The US consumer seems to be back on track: retail sales advanced 0.6%, slightly better than expected and on top of an upwards revision of June: flat instead of a fall originally reported. Core sales are up 0.4% as expected and here the upwards revision is more significant: from -0.1% to +0.4%. Excluding gas and autos we have a rise of 0.4%, with an upwards revision worth +0.4% as well. All in all this is good news. .
USD is higher with EUR/USD dipping under 1.11, GBP/USD slipping to 1.5613, USD/JPY settling above 124.50, USD/CAD topping 1.3040, AUD/USD around 0.7337 and NZD/USD clinging to 0.6560.
Consumption is key to the US economy. Retail sales disappointed time after time but this positive report could tip the Fed’s decision towards a rate hike in September.
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Jobless claims moved up to 274K, a marginal disappointment. Yet also here we had a positive revision: last week’s number is now 269K instead of 270K reported earlier.
US retail wales were expected to rebound and rise 0.5% in July after slipping 0.3% in June. Core sales carried expectations of +0.4% after -0.1%. Jobless claims were expected to remain unchanged at 270K.
Towards the publication, the US dollar has been recovering from yesterday’s lows.
Another consumer related figure is released tomorrow, the consumer sentiment number from the University of Michigan. And earlier in the euro-zone we have GDP data.
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