US Retail Sales Exceeded Consensus Estimates - 16.4.2012
The US Census Bureau reported at the beginning of the American trading session that the advance estimate of retail sales activity in March, based on responses from nearly 5000 retail and food services firms, increased by 0.8% from February and by 6.5% from March 2011. The reports, which turned out to be better than economists expected on average, probably strengthened the belief the Fed has fewer need to add monetary stimuli. The US dollar weakened against the majors as investors boosted demand for higher-yielding assets. The aussie, the loonie, the euro – all the peers bounced from daily lows. After rising to a one-week high of 80.17, the dollar index fell back to 80.00.