"Over the year retail turnover is up 3.4 per cent. Looking forward we would expect a fall in retail sales in June on account of a particularly bad storm over much of the east coast, including Sydney, that would have disrupted retail activity in the first weekend of the month".
-Phil Odonaghoe, Deutsche Bank
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the retail sales advanced at a faster rate in May. The release showed a 0.2% rise in seasonally adjusted sales, a slight improvement from the 0.1% growth rate in April. The following minor small was supported by people buying more groceries, going out for food at cafes and restaurants, and eating more takeaway. The newspapers and books sales, in turn, accelerated 0.5%, while pharmaceuticals and cosmetics added 0.6%. Moreover, department store sales stayed flat, while household goods showed a plunge of 1.1%. Clothing, footwear, and personal accessories also diminished 1.2% as the colder winter months remained unseasonably warm for most of May.
Compared to a healthy print of $1.579 billion deficit in April the current Australia's balance on goods and services equals to $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, a median estimate of economists forecast was a deficit of $1.72 billion. Moreover, Australia's trade deficit has been on a gradual downtrend since the end of last year, mainly due to the weak local currency which pushed export volumes for the resource-dependent economy.
© Dukascopy Bank SA