Underlying momentum remains strong for US consumers and that’s helped to lift the US dollar today, threatening an eight-day winning streak for the euro.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1256 ahead of the report but has fallen to 1.1229, down slightly on the day.
EURUSD daily chart
A negative day today would end a streak of 8-straight gains for EUR/USD. Earlier today, the pair touched the highest since Feb 2022.
The US dollar initially fell on the retail sales report as the headline was at +0.2% m/m compared to +0.5% expected. But the control group is a better gauge of the underlying consumer as it excludes volatile components in gasoline, autos and building supplies. That metric has averaged +0.53% m/m over the past three months.
Two particular sources of strength in the US retail sales report were furniture (+1.4%) and electronics (+1.1%) and those two are often barometers of underlying consumer confidence. Building materials were soft at -1.2% m/m.