INSTANT VIEW - Retail sales rise unexpectedly

LONDON (Reuters) - Following are a selection of analysts' views on the rise in retail sales.

ANALYST COMMENT

VICKY REDWOOD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS

"July's robust rise in retail sales should be taken with a pinch of salt, given that the official sales data have been unusually volatile over the past few months.

"Abstracting from this volatility, sales appear to have been broadly flat since the start of this year. What's more, we suspect that the official figures are still giving an overly upbeat picture.

"We know that the MPC is currently placing more weight on the anecdotal and survey evidence than the official sales figures.

"Nonetheless, there is clearly still a risk that consumer demand remains resilient enough for retailers to try to pass on more of their rises in costs to consumers, continuing the upward trend in core inflation. And as long as upside inflation risks remain, near-term rate cuts remain off the agenda."

JAMES KNIGHTLEY, ING

"The worrying aspect from the BoE's perspective is the pick-up in the price deflator. It was caused by higher food prices and leaves high street inflation running at its highest rate since May 1998.