Aussie Retail Sales (Nov MoM): +0.9 vs +0.4 expected (AUD bullish)

Australia’s run of official data for November continued today with Retail Sales for the month of November, Month on Month (MoM).

Data arrived as follows

 +0.9 vs +0.4 (expected) and 0% prior. (AUD rallies 15 pips at the time of writing) 

Analysts comments

"The 0.0% MoM headline reading in Oct was another disappointment given the middle-income tax rebates that came into effect on 1 July, especially with the detail showing spending on discretionary items (e.g. clothing & apparel, household goods and department stores) was negative,"

– analysts at Westpac explained, adding that the consensus for Nov was 0.4%mth, "if only thanks to a rebound from Oct and the growing popularity of “Black Friday” sales which could see Nov benefit at the expense of Dec." 

Description

The Retail Sales released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a survey of goods sold by retailers is based on a sampling of retail stores of different types and sizes and it's considered as an indicator of the pace of the Australian economy. It shows the performance of the retail sector over the short and mid-term. Positive economic growth anticipates bullish trends for the AUD, while a low reading is seen as negative or bearish.

FX implications

"The AUD/USD pair is at the lower end of its latest consolidative range, which keeps the risk skewed to the downside," Chief analyst at FXStret explained, adding, " ... a break below the level," (0.6480), will be "indicating a downward extension toward 0.6770.

Technical readings in the 4-hour chart favor such decline as the pair is now developing below all of its moving averages, as the RSI indicator consolidates at around 31."

More to come ...