|

US advance retail sales decline 0.3% m-o-m in January

"Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2018, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $492.0 billion, a decrease of 0.3 percent (±0.5 percent) from the previous month, but 3.6 percent (±0.7 percent) above January 2017," the U.S. Census Bureau announced this Friday. 

Key highlights:

Total sales for the November 2017 through January 2018 period were up 4.9 percent (±0.5 percent) from the same period a year ago. 

The November 2017 to December 2017 percent change was revised from up 0.4 percent (±0.5 percent) to virtually unchanged (±0.3 percent).

Retail trade sales were down 0.3 percent (±0.5 percent) from December 2017, but 3.9 percent (±0.7 percent) above last year. 

Nonstore Retailers were up 10.2 percent (±1.4 percent) from January 2017, while Gasoline Stations were up 9.0 percent (±1.6 percent) from last year.

Author

Haresh Menghani

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

More from Haresh Menghani
Share:

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD gains traction to near 1.1800 as tariff uncertainty weighs on US Dollar

The EUR/USD pair holds positive ground around 1.1795 during the early Asian session on Tuesday. The US Dollar weakens against the Euro amid US tariff uncertainty. The release of the US January Producer Price Index report will be in the spotlight later on Friday. 

GBP/USD treads water near 1.3500 as BoE-Fed divergence debate stalls

GBP/USD spent Monday spinning in place as market participants await a fresh catalyst to break the pair out of its recent range. The BoE's February hold came with a surprisingly dovish 5-4 split, and UK Consumer Price Index data last week showed inflation easing to 3.0%, reinforcing the case for earlier rate cuts, with most economists now looking to April or March for the next move. 

Gold down but not out as key $5,140 support holds

Gold consolidates the advance to monthly top of $5,250 in Tuesday’s Asian trades. The US Dollar finds demand as liquidity returns and risk sentiment recovers, despite US tariffs uncertainty. Gold defends 61.8% Fibo resistance at $5,142 amid the pullback, daily RSI remains bullish.

Top Crypto Losers: BCH, HYPE, PUMP extend losses as Bitcoin drops below $64,000

Altcoins, including Bitcoin Cash, Hyperliquid, and Pump.fun, are leading losses over the last 24 hours as Bitcoin falls below $64,000 on Tuesday. The technical outlook for BCH, HYPE, and PUMP flags downside risk amid broader market selling.

Supreme Court nixes tariffs, Trump teases 15% global tariff

On February 20th, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s global tariffs under IEEPA authority were unconstitutional, effectively nullifying the framework. However, the relief was short-lived. Within hours, Trump floated a 15% blanket tariff under an alternative legal authority.

XRP recovers slightly as bearish sentiment dominates crypto market

Ripple is rising above $1.40 at the time of writing on Monday amid fresh tariff-triggered headwinds in the broader cryptocurrency market. The sell-off to $1.33, the token’s intraday low, can be attributed to macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and risk-averse sentiment among other factors.