— Japan Apr Retail Sales +5.8% Y/Y; MNI Median Fcast +6.0%
— Japan Apr Retail Sales Post 5th Y/Y Rise In Row; Mar +10.3%
— Japan Apr Retail Car Sales +55.6% Y/Y; Mar +50.4%
— Japan Apr Retail Fuel Sales +7.7% Y/Y; Mar +6.1%
— Japan Apr Retail Machinery Sales -18.3% Y/Y; Mar -12.2%
TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s retail sales posted a fifth straight month of
annual increase on solid demand for automobiles following the revival of
government subsidies for buying low-emission vehicles, data from the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released Tuesday showed.
Retail sales last month rose 5.8%, largely in line with the
consensus forecast for a 6.0% rise in a MNI survey of economists. The
April gain followed a 10.3% rise in March.
The recent sharp rises compared with a slump a year ago, when the
massive earthquake caused a supply chain breakdown for cars and
electronics while many consumers outside disaster areas refrained from
spending out of respect for the victims.
Retail sales of automobiles surged a record 55.6% from a year
earlier in April, posting the seventh consecutive y/y rise after rising
50.4% in March.
Automobile sales sagged in most of 2011 after the government ended
subsidies for buying greener cars and trucks in September 2010 but they
are now being supported by the resumption of the program in December
last year.
Reflecting higher gasoline and heating oil prices, retail sales of
fuel gained 7.7% on year in April, with the pace of increase
accelerating from +6.1% in March.
The average price of regular gasoline in Japan reached Y158.3 in
the week starting on April 2, the highest in three and a half years
since Y161.6 seen in the week of Oct. 14, 2008.
Meanwhile, retail sales of machinery and equipment including
consumer electronics posted a ninth straight on-year drop. The pace of
decline accelerated to -18.3% from -12.2% in March.
Other details from the latest data:
Commercial sales, or combined sales at the wholesale and retail
levels (y/y): April +1.8%, a second straight rise.
Sales at the wholesale level (y/y): April +0.3%, also a second
straight rise.
Large retail store sales on a same-store adjusted basis (y/y):
April -0.5%, the first fall in three months.
Large retail store sales, unadjusted (y/y): April +0.2%, a third
straight rise.
tokyo@marketnews.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4835 **
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