WASHINGTON: US retail sales rose modestly in January after a December drop that was even larger than originally estimated, but the recovery was not seen strong enough to alter the course of a US economy that was losing momentum in early 2019.
Retail sales rose 0.2 per cent as increased purchases of building materials and more discretionary spending offset the biggest decline in motor vehicle sales in five years. Data for December was revised to show sales tumbling 1.6 per cent instead of decreasing 1.2 per cent as previously reported. They were previously reported to have decreased 1.7 per cent in December. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity.
Goldman Sachs lowered its first-quarter growth estimate by four-tenths of a percentage point to a 0.5 per cent rate. Slowing economic growth supports the Federal Reserve's"patient" approach toward further interest rate hikes this year. The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies, while US Treasury prices fell. Stocks on Wall Street rose after five straight sessions of declines, but a sharp drop in Boeing Co shares after a second deadly crash of one of its planes in just five months capped gains on the blue-chip Dow.