Singapore’s retail sales drop 0.6% YoY in June

Singapore’s retail sales were reported to have decreased at an annualized rate of 0.6% in June, after a 2.2% surge in May.

In June, sales went down for:

– furniture & household equipment (-1.9% YoY versus a 1.1% YoY rise in May);
– watches & jewelry (-1.7% YoY after a 7.4% YoY increase in May);
– other goods (-3.8% YoY after a 2.2% YoY rise in May);
– mini-marts & convenience stores (-7.1% YoY versus -3.5% YoY in May);
– wearing apparel & footwear (-10.1% YoY versus -6.8% YoY in May);
– recreational goods (-6.7% YoY versus -3% YoY in May);
– computer & telecommunications equipment (-5.7% YoY versus -1.6% YoY in May);
– optical goods & books (-12.5% YoY versus -6.7% YoY in May).

In the meantime, sales growth slowed for:

– food & alcohol (5.3% YoY after 11% YoY in May);
– petrol service stations (0.4% YoY after 0.9% YoY in May).

And, sales rebounded for supermarkets & hypermarkets (1.6% YoY in June after a 1.1% YoY decline in May).

The Singaporean Dollar was 0.50% stronger on the day against its US counterpart, with the USD/SGD currency pair last trading at 1.3200.

The exotic Forex pair was hovering just above a fresh seven-month low of 1.3194.

The greenback retreated amid decreasing US Treasury yields, after weak US employment data bolstered the case for rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.