Singapore: Retail Sales climbed to multi-month highs in January – UOB

Pablo Piovano FXStreet

UOB Group's Economist Barnabas Gan reviews the latest Retail Sales release from Singapore.

Key Takeaways

“Singapore’s retail sales surged 11.8% y/y (-2.5% m/m sa) in Jan 2022, surprising market estimates for a milder growth of 7.2%. Retail sales excluding motor vehicles rose 15.8% y/y in the same month.”

“Several factors contributed to the rise in retail sales. Seasonal factors such as the Lunar New Year (LNY) most likely fuelled consumer demand as LNY was in early Feb. Pent-up demand in line Singapore’s tighter labour market, and coupled with the low-base levels in Jan 2021, also likely contributed to retail sales demand.”

“Retail sales will likely continue to stay supported in 2022, in line with the positive economic prognosis and recovering labour market. Potential front-loading consumer demand in the year ahead could also help retail sales as consumers adjust for the higher GST rates in 2023. Barring the exacerbation of COVID-19-related risks in Singapore and around the region, we pencil retail sales to expand by 6.0% in 2022.”

Author

Pablo Piovano

FXStreet

Born and bred in Argentina, Pablo has been carrying on with his passion for FX markets and trading since his first college years.

EUR/USD deflates to fresh lows, targets 1.1600

The selling pressure on EUR/USD now gathers extra pace, prompting the pair to hit fresh multi-week lows in the 1.1625-1.1620 band on Friday. The continuation of the downward bias comes in response to further gains in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess the mixed release of US Nonfarm Payrolls in December.

GBP/USD breaks below 1.3400, challenges the 200-day SMA

GBP/USD remains under heavy fire and retreats for the fourth consecutive day on Friday. Indeed, Cable suffers the strong performance of the Greenback, intensified post-mixed NFP, and trades at shouting distance from its critical 200-day SMA near 1.3380.

Gold flirts with yearly tops around $4,500

Gold keeps its positive bias on Friday, adding to Thursday’s advance and challenging yearly highs in the $4,500 region per troy ounce. The risk-off sentiment favours the yellow metal despite the firmer tone in the Greenback and rising US Treasury yields.