Retail sales will be a focus and the data is coming up in a few hours, due at 1230GMT
Earlier preview here:
This now, via RBC:
- Retail sales look poised for a good showing in September on the heels of a relatively soft outcome the previous month. Chain-store sales have broken higher in recent weeks and were running at about a 6% y/y clip on the month. Meanwhile, the job market has shown little sign of weakening, with jobless claims continuing to register all-time lows even in the face of Hurricane Florence. Unemployment ticked down to a fresh cycle low of 3.7%.
- Stronger vehicle sales should support headline retail growth of about 0.8% m/m while the aforementioned fundamentals suggest a nice rebound in control retail sales (ex. autos, building materials, gasoline) of about 0.5%
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Westpac with a preview also:
- US retail sales have been decidedly mixed of late, with negative revisions offsetting an upside surprise to the latest actual or vice versa. Growth over the year remains robust though, at 6.6%yr in August. • The underlying supports for US consumption remain strong, with employment growth continuing at pace; wages growth firming; and consumer confidence strong. The elevated price of oil is a partial offset to these long-running positives. • Come September, we look for a bounce in spending, a 0.8% gain for headline sales and a 0.5% rise for core activity. From those two forecasts, apparent is that spending on autos and gasoline will be positive in the month. This is also likely to be the case into year end, particularly for autos in regions hit by the 2018 hurricane season
