UK RETAIL SALES SURGE UP 6.9% IN NOVEMBER

REUTERS/Luke MacGregor Shoppers fight over a TV on Black Friday, in late November.

UK retail sales exploded in November, up 1.6% from October, while analysts expected just a 0.3% bump.

Sales are up by an astonishing 6.4% year-on-year. That's the strongest increase since 2004.

Analysts were expecting retail sales to rise about 4.4% in November, which is typically a month when Christmas shopping gets underway. 

Sales had risen 4.6% on the year in October.