OK, yeah, not the most interesting issue what with US / China tensions and what have you
But, keeping track:
- Data is here: Japan data for retail sales - comes in at a miss
Reuters now with a bit of a recap:
- Annual growth in Japanese retail sales slowed in May to its lowest in seven months
- weaker than the median estimate
- Growth in fuel sales led May's retail sales, reflecting higher gasoline prices
- spending on items such as clothes and cars declined in May from a year earlie
- Japan's economy is expected to bounce back in April-June from the first-quarter contraction that ended the longest growth run since the 1980s bubble economy. Analysts said the slump was caused by one-off factors such as bad weather and saw it as temporary.
- While risks to the export-reliant economy abound, not least from a heated China-U.S. trade dispute that has roiled financial markets, weak domestic demand is a worry for policymakers struggling to stoke sustainable inflation.
