Breaking: US Retail Sales Surge by 1% in July, Beating Expectations

Retail Sales in the United States rose by 1% in July, reaching $709.7 billion, according to data released by the US Census Bureau on Thursday. This increase far exceeded market expectations of a 0.3% rise and followed a revised 0.2% decrease in June.

Retail Sales excluding Autos also saw a significant rise of 0.4%, surpassing analysts' predictions of a 0.1% increase.

The report highlighted that total sales for the period from May through July 2024 were up by 2.4% compared to the same period last year, with retail trade sales increasing by 1.1% from June 2024 and up 2.6% from the previous year.

Following the release of this strong retail data, the US Dollar Index gained momentum, rising 0.5% on the day to trade above 103.00.