US Retail Sales Heads Mixed US Data

Stuart Cowell HFM

USD/CAD, H4

US January retail sales increased 0.3% for both the headline and ex-autos. December’s 0.3% headline gain was revised down to 0.2%, while the 0.7% ex-auto gain was bumped to 0.6%. Headline and core sales are 4.6% y/y higher. Sales excluding autos, gas and building materials were 0.2% firmer from 0.4%. Gas station sales declined -0.5% after a 1.7% gain (revised from 2.8%) and breaks a string of three monthly gains into the holidays. Clothing sales dropped -3.1% following a 2.7% December bounce (revised from 1.6%). Some of the weakness could be discounting. Car sales edged up 0.2% from -1.7% (revised from -1.3%). Non-store retailer sales were up 0.3% from -0.1% (revised from 0.2%). Miscellaneous sales climbed 2.3%.

The Dollar was steady following the mix of data, where retail sales were in-line with forecasts, import prices were a touch firmer than consensus, and industrial production weaker. EURUSD idles over 1.0840, with USDJPY down a few points at 109.80.

So far today CAD is the best performing currency, in-line with rising Oil prices, and the Swiss Franc is the weakest. USDCAD moved down to print fresh low for the week at 1.3235, ahead of the retail sales data.

Author

Stuart Cowell

HFM

With over 25 years experience working for a host of globally recognized organisations in the City of London, Stuart Cowell is a passionate advocate of keeping things simple, doing what is probable and understanding how the news, c

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