United States Retail Sales expanded by 0.9% MoM in May
- Retail Sales in the US picked up momentum in May.
- The US Dollar Index advances marginally to the 99.70 region.
Retail Sales in the United States increased to $763.7 billion in May, the US Census Bureau reported on Wednesday. This print followed the 0.5% expansion recorded in the previous month and came in above market expectation (+0.5%). On a yearly basis, Retail Sales were up 6.9% in this period.
"Retail trade sales were up 1.0 percent (±0.4 percent) from April 2026, and up 7.5 percent (±0.5 percent) from last year. Nonstore retailers were up 12.2 percent (±1.8 percent) from last year, while food services and drinking places were up 2.7 percent (±1.8 percent) from May 2025," the press release read.
What do US Retail Sales figures mean for the US Dollar?
The Greenback trades with decent gains in the wake of the publication of Retail Sales data, with the US Dollar Index (DXY) returning to the low 99.60-99.70 band and reversing two consecutive daily declines.
The move higher in the US Dollar (USD) follows the widespread caution in the global markets ahead of the FOMC event due later in the day.
GDP FAQs
A country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the rate of growth of its economy over a given period of time, usually a quarter. The most reliable figures are those that compare GDP to the previous quarter e.g Q2 of 2023 vs Q1 of 2023, or to the same period in the previous year, e.g Q2 of 2023 vs Q2 of 2022. Annualized quarterly GDP figures extrapolate the growth rate of the quarter as if it were constant for the rest of the year. These can be misleading, however, if temporary shocks impact growth in one quarter but are unlikely to last all year – such as happened in the first quarter of 2020 at the outbreak of the covid pandemic, when growth plummeted.
A higher GDP result is generally positive for a nation’s currency as it reflects a growing economy, which is more likely to produce goods and services that can be exported, as well as attracting higher foreign investment. By the same token, when GDP falls it is usually negative for the currency. When an economy grows people tend to spend more, which leads to inflation. The country’s central bank then has to put up interest rates to combat the inflation with the side effect of attracting more capital inflows from global investors, thus helping the local currency appreciate.
When an economy grows and GDP is rising, people tend to spend more which leads to inflation. The country’s central bank then has to put up interest rates to combat the inflation. Higher interest rates are negative for Gold because they increase the opportunity-cost of holding Gold versus placing the money in a cash deposit account. Therefore, a higher GDP growth rate is usually a bearish factor for Gold price.