Retail Sales Rise Roughly In Line With Estimates In May

Retail sales for May rose just about in line with estimates, giving a market that is looking for direction little to take away. Retail sales have now gained for two consecutive months.

Total Retail Sales

Total retail sales rose 0.6 percent in May, better than the 0.4 percent gain expected by economists. The rise also outpaces April's improvement of 0.5 percent and a 4.7 percent improvement from May last year.

Retail trade sales were up 0.7 percent from April 2013 and 4.3 percent above last year. Non-store retailers were up 11.3 percent from May 2012 and building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers were up 10.1 percent from last year.

Core Group

Excluding volatile sales of automobiles and gasoline, retail sales rose 0.3 percent, in line with estimates. Core retail sales rose 0.5 percent in April, which was revised downwards slightly from the initial estimate of 0.6 percent.

Total retail sales are now up 3.7 percent year to date. Core retail sales have gained 3.0 percent while retail sales ex-food services have also gained 3.7 percent.

Market Impact

S&P 500 futures regained some losses on the news, rising 6 points to 1,611.00. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury rose to a session high of 2.22 percent and the dollar recouped some losses against the yen and the euro.

The SPDR S&P Retail ETF XRT gained in the pre-market on the news rising 0.2 percent to $76.95. Meanwhile, gold extended session losses, falling to $1,377.70 per ounce while silver futures fell to $21.69 in volatile trading.