Mexican retail sales rise significantly on sequential basis in February

Mexico’s retail sales increased in the month of February by the most in three-and-a-half years. The official data showed that the nation’s retail sales rose 2.4 percent sequentially in February after falling for two months in a row. The figure for February has exceeded the forecast of a 0.6 percent rise in a Reuters poll. On a year-on-year basis, Mexican retail sales rose 3.6 percent in February, as compared with the 3.35 percent projected in a Reuters poll.

Consumer sentiment in Mexico fell to a record low in January following a major rise in gasoline price and a decline in the Mexican peso to a record low on worries that U.S. President Donald Trump might end a free trade deal with Mexico. However, the Mexican peso has appreciated since then.