Japan’s Retail Trade figures for the y/y period into August came in at 2.7%, clearing the 2.2% expectations and surging above the previous reading of 1.5%, while the seasonally-adjusted figure for the month of August also came in at 0.9%, beating the forecast -0.1% contraction.
Large Retail Sales also managed to recover slightly, coming in at -0.1% versus the expected -0.2%, but Industrial Production in July disappointed, dropping to 0.7%, better than the -0.2% previous reading but missing the forecast 1.5%.
Foreign investment in Japanese stocks also contracted by – ¥519.8 billion, more stable than the previous reading of – ¥1.482 trillion, with foreign bond investment settling to ¥1.505 trillion versus the previous month’s ¥2.33 trillion.