This month, British retailers announced the sharpest increase in revenue since 2018 as non-essential stores reopened after months of shutdown, leading to evidence of an economic revival as COVID constraints eased, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

According to the Confederation of British Industry, the monthly retail overall sales balance increased to +20 in April from -45 in March, the highest amount since September 2018. Much of the rise was due to the impact of referring to a year before, when Britain was in the middle of the first, most strict COVID lockdown.

A different indicator of sales volume for such time of year bounced back strongly to its peak point since June 2018 and is forecast to remain high in May. Most analysts predict that the British economy will rise by more than 5% this year, after contracting by nearly 10% in 2020, the sharpest downturn in over 300 years.

Non-essential products stores in England and Wales reopened on April 12 after more than three months of shutdown, while those in Scotland reopened on Monday. Northern Irish retailers are set to reopen on April 30.

Authorized retail sales figures found that sales rates in March approached pre-crisis averages, indicating a significant transition to shopping online, which now accounts for more than a third of total consumption, up from less than a quarter before the pandemic.

The CBI reported that many high-street retailers were still struggling, particularly in hard-hit industries such as garments. “Despite improvement along with the blueprint,” CBI economist Ben Jones said, “the effect of COVID-19 constraints is still pressing hard.”

“The month's increase in retail sales was propelled by industries that performed comparatively well throughout the pandemic, with no immediate recovery anticipated for more troubled sectors such as clothing, boots, and supermarkets,” he said.

The CBI survey was conducted between March 25 and April 15, and it included 60 retail chains.

Following earnings from blue-chip companies such as HSBC and BP, European stocks were mostly unchanged on Tuesday, while UBS became the newest bank to announce an impact from trading with US investment firm Archegos.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.1%, with travel and leisure stocks setting new highs and benefits in energy stocks recouping declines in automakers. BP gained 1.9% as its first-quarter earnings jumped thanks to higher oil prices and higher income from natural gas trading.

HSBC, an Asia-focused lender, rose 1.7% after reporting optimistic quarterly earnings, as strong vaccination deployments in major markets provided a brighter financial outlook.

UBS sank 2% to a near 11-week low after facing an unwelcome $774 million hit from Archegos, which undermined a forecast-beating 14% increase in quarterly net income.

European shares were trapped in a close trading range advance of the US Federal Reserve's policy choice on Wednesday, with policymakers set to announce that they would continue to sustain relaxed monetary policy to support the economy.