Singapore’s retail sales surge 1% YoY in July

Singapore’s retail sales were reported to have increased at an annualized rate of 1% in July, rebounding after a 0.6% drop in June.

In July, sales went up for:

– motor vehicles (27.2% YoY versus 19.5% YoY in June);
– food and alcohol (4.7% YoY versus 4.1% YoY in June);
– petrol service stations (4.7% YoY versus 0.4% YoY in June);
– watches and jewelry (0.8% YoY after a 1.7% YoY drop in June).

Sales at supermarkets and hypermarkets rose 1.8% YoY in July, or at the same rate as in June.

In the meantime, sales decreased for:

– wearing apparel and footwear (-10.3% YoY versus -9.8% YoY in June);
– optical goods and books (-8.7% YoY versus -12.5% YoY in June);
– furniture and household equipment (-5% YoY versus -1.8% YoY in June);
– recreational goods (-4.4% YoY versus -8% YoY in June);
– mini-marts and convenience stores (-1.9% YoY versus -6.8% YoY in June);
– computer and telecommunications equipment (-1.3% YoY versus -5.4% YoY in June);
– other goods (-0.9% YoY versus -4.5% YoY in June).

The Singaporean Dollar was 0.12% stronger on the day against its US counterpart, with the USD/SGD currency pair last trading at 1.3020.

Market players increased their bets of an out-sized interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve due to continuing US growth outlook concerns.