US retail sales: Strong comeback in April – Wells Fargo

By FXStreet According to analysts from Wells Fargo, the April retail sales report presages stronger consumer spending during the second quarter.

Key Quotes:

“After a relatively weak first quarter, retail sales came roaring back at the start of the second quarter. April retail sales surged 1.3 percent after an unrevised drop of 0.3 percent in March. Excluding autos, retail sales were very strong, growing at 0.8 percent while being revised up from an originally published 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent in March. Retail sales excluding auto and gasoline sales were up twice as much as markets were expecting, 0.6 percent versus 0.3 percent while being revised up from 0.1 percent in March to 0.2 percent.”

“The strong print for the control group sales in April presages a very strong start of the second quarter for consumer spending. Control group sales, which go directly into the calculation of GDP, were up a strong 0.9 percent versus consensus expectations of an increase of 0.4 percent. This means that the second quarter has started on a very solid note for personal consumption expenditures (PCE).”

“Furthermore, control group sales for February and March were revised upward, which indicates that there is a real possibility that PCE growth in the …read more

Source:: FX Street