Börse Express – USA: Retail sales rise unexpectedly

Washington (dpa-AFX) – US retail sales rose unexpectedly in August. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday in Washington that earnings rose 0.1 percent from the previous month. Economists on average had expected a 0.2 percent decline. Also, according to revised figures, sales increased by 1.1 percent in the previous month. An increase of 1.0 percent was initially determined.

Excluding volatile auto sales, revenue rose 0.1 percent in August. An increase of 0.2 percent was expected. Retail sales are seen as an indicator of the strength of consumption, which has traditionally played a key role in the growth of the world's largest economy.

“Despite the burden of lower car sales and falling gasoline prices, retail sales rose unexpectedly,” writes Ralf Runde, economist at Landesbank Hessen-Theringen (Helaba). Interest rate cut speculation should be tempered somewhat by the US Federal Reserve's view this Wednesday. It is still unclear in financial markets whether the central bank will cut the key interest rate by 0.25 or 0.50 percentage points. “After a solid start to the third quarter, consumption slowed, but in our view, the overall numbers do not help justify a major easing move by the central bank,” writes Runde./jsl/jkr/jha/

AXC0183 2024-09-17/14:56

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