Australia: Retail trade to post a weak gain in July - Westpac

Analysts at Westpac expect July to post a weak 0.2% gain for monthly retail sales of Australia.

Key Quotes

“Recent months have seen retail sales recover from weather disruptions at the start of the year, with a 1% rise in Apr followed by a 0.6% gain in May and a 0.3% gain in June. Recall that the start of 2017 saw an abnormally high number of heatwave and wet weather days across the eastern capital cities with severe weather from Cyclone Debbie also impacting in late March.”

“The rebound in momentum is now fading. Meanwhile the backdrop in terms of consumer sentiment remains shaky with signs family finances came under renewed pressure through mid 2017 with mortgage rate increases and continued concerns around housing markets more than offsetting an improvement in labour markets. Aggressive price discounting remains a factor as well.”