Retail sales in UK hit 5-month high

LONDON - UK retail sales rose unexpectedly in September by the most in five months, led by spending on electrical goods such as laptop computers.

Sales including fuel climbed 0.6 percent from August, when they fell a revised 0.4 percent, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday in London. That's the biggest gain since April. In the third quarter, sales fell 0.2 percent compared with the previous three months.

The Bank of England, which expanded its stimulus measures this month to aid the recovery, said on Wednesday that household spending has been "weak for some time" as tensions in global markets affect consumer confidence.