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U.S. retail sales for May fell short of expectations, concerning economists, as it could signal a slowdown in economic growth.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that sales ticked up 0.
1% from April to May, missing expectations of a 0.2% month-on-month increase. May sales, which totaled $703.
1 billion, were up 2.3% from a year ago, while sales for the March 2024 to May 2024 period gained 2.9% from the same period a year earlier, the agency reported.
Nonstore retailers were up 6.8% from last year, while food services and drinking places were up 3.8 % from May 2023.
The market reacted calmly to the retail sales miss, as exchange-traded funds in the retail and food services sectors saw little movement by mid-morning on Tuesday. Price action: S&P Retail ETF XRT remained unchanged, while VanEck Retail ETF RTH edged up 0.06% and Amplify Online Retail ETF IBUY gained 0.
17%. Meanwhile, Invesco Food & Beverage ETF PBJ went up 0.30%, First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF FTXG slipped 0.
38% and Veg Tech Plant-based Innovation & Climate ETF EATV gained 0.44%. Major retailers had mixed reactions to the latest retail sales numbers.
Walmart Inc. WMT went up 0.35% by mid-morning on Tuesday, while Amazon.
com Inc. AMZN slipped 0.90% and The Home Depot, Inc.
HD picked up 1.31%. Economists and financial experts weighed in on the latest retail sales data to explain the implications for the market.
Also read: US Stocks Mixed; Retail Sales Increase 0.1% In May Resilient consumer.