Retail Sales data for December down 0.1% m/m, MISS

  • expected 0.3% m/m, prior +0.1%, revised from +0.2%

Bad miss for the sector. After the positive input for the Australian dollar from the earlier inflation data (link below), this is a negative input for the currency.

Detail from the Australian Bureau of Statistics:

Australian retail turnover fell 0.1 per cent in December 2016, seasonally adjusted,

  • In seasonally adjusted terms, there were falls in household goods retailing (-2.3 per cent), and other retailing (-0.2 per cent)
  • Offset by rises in food retailing (0.5 per cent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (1.4 per cent), cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.2 per cent), and department stores (0.3 per cent)

The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.3 per cent in December 2016 following a 0.3 per cent rise in November 2016

  • Compared to December 2015, the trend estimate rose 3.2 per cent.

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Also, Q4 Retail Sales excluding Inflation, 0.9% q/q

  • expected 0.9% q/q, prior -0.1%

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Earlier data from Australia: