Australian retail sales growth likely slowed in March

Australian retail sales growth is expected to have slowed in March. In the prior month, retail sales had risen 0.6 percent, the strongest sequential rise since November 2017. This rise in spending was widespread, with sales rising throughout all major categories in February. Despite this rise in spending, household consumption continues to be a key area of uncertainty for the RBA, which had decided to keep its key lending rate on hold at 1.50 percent during its meeting in March.

Subdued wage growth and high household debt levels continue to be a drag on household consumption.

“Despite expectations that inflation growth will likely remain lackluster for some time, we expect to eventually see the continued improvement in the labor market translate into higher wages”, noted Wells Fargo in a research.

Solid competition among retailers as well as difficulty finding skilled workers will eventually cause price pressures to materialize, while fostering conditions for increased consumption, stated Wells Fargo.

At 19:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Australian Dollar was bearish at -74.5645, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bullish at 104.524. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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