Sterling rises after stronger-than-expected UK retail sales

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Sterling rose sharply against the dollar on Thursday after data showed British retail sales rose more strongly than expected in April, recovering from a surprise fall in March.

Retail sales volumes rose 1.2 percent on the month, the strongest increase since November, to show 4.7 percent growth on the year, the Office for National Statistics said.

Sterling hit the day's high of $1.5648 after the numbers, up from $1.5605 before their release and leaving the pound up 0.7 percent on the day.

Against a broadly stronger euro, sterling strengthened to an intraday high of 71.33 pence, leaving it up 0.2 percent on the day.

UK government bond futures fell after the data. The June future fell as low as 117.04 from 117.22 just before the data and was last at 117.11, up 21 tick on the day.

The FTSE 100 equity index was little changed after the data. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly and Atul Prakash; Editing by Nigel Stephenson)