US retail sales up next: What did Target see?

US retail sales are due at the bottom of the hour and will set the mood for the week.

“Our topline performance for the month was soft,” Target CFO Jim Lee said at the start of March. He
highlighted poor weather but said that “declining consumer confidence
impacted our discretionary assortment overall.”

There have been other signs of a consumer slowdown as well but just how soft? Economists are not yet convinced it’s here with the consensus for today’s February retail sales at +0.6% and the control group (ex autos, gasoline and building materials) +0.3%.

Those come after some poor numbers in January but in light of the dismal weather in the month (if not the slowdown cited by Target), there are risks to downside.

It’s also Fed week and the market is pricing in no chance of a move this month but a 30% chance of a cut in May.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.