U.S. retail sales signal strength in economy

The better-than-expected improvement in the U.S. retail sales is pointing to underlying strength in the economy, the Commerce Department said on Monday. According to the report retail sales edged higher 0.1% in April after a revised 0.5% decline in March, beating analysts' expectations of a 0.3% slump. One of the main drivers were receipts at auto dealerships, which surged 1.0% after falling 0.6% in March. In the meantime, excluding autos, sales dipped 0.1% after falling 0.4% in March. As to the core retail sales, which strip out automobiles, gasoline and building materials and correspond most closely with the consumer willingness to spend, they jumped 0.5% after nudging up only 0.1% in the prior month.

"The overall tone of this report was quite encouraging as it suggests that U.S. consumers are continuing to successfully navigate against the steady fiscal headwinds," said Millan Mulraine at TD Securities in New York.

"The message in today's numbers is that consumers are coming back to stores in the second quarter, in part because some of the price relief from lower gas prices is being spent elsewhere," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York.