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.