US DATA: wk 30-Jun ICSC-Goldman Store Sales: “Weather played havoc
with the nation and the consumer’s ability to shop. This past week a
super derecho, a 700-mile long trail of violent thunder and wind
storms, developed in the Midwest and spread to the mid-Atlantic region
on Friday, cutting off electricity for millions of people. The
ICSC-Goldman Sachs (ICSC-GS) weekly chain store sales index rose by a
moderate 0.2% from the prior week for the period ending June 30, but
sales momentum weakened appreciably to 1.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Monthly-sales-reporting firms will release their results on Thursday,
July 5. According to the ICSC-GS consumer tracking survey, customer
traffic slowed over the past week with the highest percentage of
consumers reporting they did not shop at all.”