Fall in Japan’s retail sales eases in October, better than market expectations

Retail sales in Japan fell during the month of October, albeit at a much slower pace, compared to the previous month, in a sign that the economy has started the last quarter of the year on a considerable footing. However, retail sales remained better than market consensus.

Japan’s Retail sales fell at an annualized 0.1 percent last month, following a 1.7 percent drop in September, data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed Tuesday. A median estimate of economists called for a 1.5 percent year-over-year decline. Retail sales have now declined in 11 of the past 12 months.

Further, private consumption, roughly representing 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), expanded just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, a government report revealed earlier this month, unchanged from April-June.

Later this week, the Japanese government is scheduled to issue reports on industrial production, housing starts and foreign bond investment.

Meanwhile, the USD/JPY has formed a bullish candle at 111.97, up 0.03 percent, while at 5:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Yen Strength Index remained highly bullish at 120.93 (above the +75 benchmark for bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex