- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
US retail sales, industrial production post April gains
Retail sales in the United States returned to growth in April fueled by a rebound in motor vehicle sales, data released Tuesday showed, but not by as much as many expected.
The US Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates 10 times in a row since last year in a bid to suppress demand and slow inflation. The smaller increase in sales suggests the policy is having some impact.
Retail sales rose by 0.4 percent in April from a month earlier to $686.1 billion, the Commerce Department said in a statement, up from a revised decline of 0.7 percent in March.
The sales figure was half of the median expectation of economists surveyed by MarketWatch.
Sales were up 1.6 percent year-on-year.
"The April retail sales report shows consumers remain inclined to spend though they are becoming more selective in their purchases," Oxford Economics lead US economist Oren Klachkin wrote in a note to clients.
- Strong vehicle production -
A separate report released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve showed industrial production rose 0.5 percent month-on-month, beating median expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch.
Manufacturing output increased 1.0 percent, fueled by a strong gain in the output of motor vehicles and parts, the Fed said.
"Overall industrial production rose more than expected to start Q2 and the April level of factory output is higher than the Q1 average," Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note to clients.
"Higher borrowing costs and weaker demand for goods are headwinds for manufacturing," she said.
But "a stabilization in demand at lower levels and a peak in interest rates coupled with onshoring and infrastructure spending could be positive for factory activity over coming months," she added.
- Inflationary pressures persist -
While the headline figure for retail sales came in lower than expected, the one excluding motor vehicle and parts dealers was in line with analysts' expectations, showing a small rise after two months of decline.
"While this is good news, inflation's persistent impact on consumers is apparent in the year-on-year comparisons with significant drops in discretionary categories" like home furnishings and electronics, Morning Consult's retail and e-commerce analyst Claire Tassin said in a statement.
Klachkin from Oxford Economics predicted the gathering economic "storm clouds" could lead retail sales to run out of steam before long.
"We expect a weaker labor market, depleted excess savings buffers, tighter credit standards, and high prices will make consumers less inclined to spend" in the second half of the year, he said.
M.García--CPN