THE TAKEWAY: Australian Retail Sales +0.5% in May > Beats expectations and shows improvement from April, but flat for the year > Australian Dollar gains
The Australian Dollar advanced after retail sales gained 0.5 percent in May improving from 0.1 percent in April. Additionally, retail sector’s sales beat consensus set at 0.2 percent.
Sales have been relatively flat since the beginning of the year oscillating between zero and one percent. Moreover, the Australian currency has been appreciating versus the U.S. Dollar since June of this year.
AUD/USD, 1 Minute Chart
