— Japan Sep Retail Sales +0.4% Y/Y; MNI Median Fcast +0.5%
— Japan Retail Sales Post 2nd Straight Rise; Aug +1.7%
— Japan Sep Retail Car Sales -1.6 Y/Y; Aug +19.7%
— Japan Sep Retail Fuel Sales +0.1% Y/Y; Aug -4.9%
— Japan Sep Retail Machinery Sales -1.5% Y/Y; Aug -10.4%

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s retail sales posted a second straight
year-on-year rise in September but the pace of increase slowed from
August, hit by waning effects of subsidy-backed car purchases, data from
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released Monday showed.

In September, retail sales increased just 0.4% on year as largely
expected. It was slightly below the median forecast by economists for a
0.5% rise in a MNI survey.

The increase in August was a larger 1.7%, thanks to solid car sales
that offset a year-on-year drop in gasoline prices and continued weak
demand for TVs.

In September retail sales of automobiles fell 1.6% from a year
earlier, the first fall in 12 months following a 19.7% increase in
August.

The latest industry data showed that new vehicle sales in Japan
posted the first year-on-year decline in 13 months in September as the
government terminated subsidies for buying low-emission vehicles that
month. New vehicle sales fell 8.1% on year to 288,478 units in September
after +7.3% in August and +36.1% in July.

Meantime , retail sales of fuels posted the first year-on-year gain
in four months, up 0.1% in September after a 4.9% fall in August, while
sales of food and beverages marked the second straight rise, up 1.8%
following a 1.2% gain in the previous month.

Retail sales of machinery and equipment including consumer
electronics posted a 14th straight on-year drop, but the pace of decline
decelerated to -1.5% in September from -10.4 in August and -26.7% in
July.

Other details from the latest data:

Commercial sales, or combined sales at the wholesale and retail
levels (y/y): Sep -3.5%, a fourth straight fall.

Sales at the wholesale level (y/y): Sep -4.8%, also a fourth
straight fall.

Large retail store sales on a same-store adjusted basis (y/y): Sep
-1.0%, a sixth straight drop.

Large retail store sales, unadjusted (y/y): Sep -0.1%, a fifth
straight fall.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-6860-4821 **

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