Highlights of the August US retail sales report:
- Prior was +0.6% (revised to +0.7%)
- Control group +0.4% vs +0.3% exp
- Prior control group 0.3% (revised to +0.6%)
- Ex autos +0.1% vs +0.2% exp
- Prior ex autos +0.4% (revised to +0.6%)
- Ex autos and gas +0.3% vs +0.4% exp
- Prior ex autos and gas +0.7% (revised to +0.7%)
Positive revisions and a beat on the control group easily outweigh the slight miss on headline sales. This is a good report but not good enough to spook the market into worrying about a rate hike.
The US dollar climbed a few pips on the headlines but isn't pressing the issue. Part of that story is that the Empire Fed was so weak.
The control group is averaging a 0.54% monthly rise over the past four months. That's the highest since June 2014.