Japanese Retail Trade bounces to 2.4% YoY in April, beats 1.9% forecast

Japanese Retail Trade grew 2.4% YoY in April, over and above the forecast 1.9% and recovering from the previous period's 24-month low of 1.1%, which was revised even lower from the initial print of 1.2%.

Japanese Large Retailer Sales grew 3.0% YoY in April, but came in lower than the previous month's 7.0% annualized figure.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Japanese Retail Trade grew 1.2% MoM in April, rebounding from the previous seasonally-adjusted Retail Trade print of -1.2%.

Japanese Industrial Production declined -0.1% MoM in April, missing the foreacst 0.9% and falling steeply from the previous month's 4.4%. The annualized figure also declined -1.0%, but less than the previous -6.2%.

Market reaction

USD/JPY is trading into the 157.00 handle in the early Friday market session, testing into the high side as the Yen eases against the Greenback.

About Japanese Retail Trade

The Retail Trade data, released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on a monthly basis, measures the total value of goods sold by retailers in Japan. Changes in Retail Sales are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending. Percent changes reflect the rate of changes in such sales, with the YoY reading comparing sales values in the reference month with the same month a year earlier. Generally, a high reading is seen as bullish for the Japanese Yen (JPY), while a low reading is seen as bear