At 8:30 AM EDT, the US Retail Sales for the month of June will be released. Last month Retail Sales rose by 1.0% for the headline number and by a higher 1.2% ex Autos. This was twice as much as expectation, and largely reflected the surge in sales as a result of the tax rebate checks. It was the third straight month that sales rose by more than 0.4%. The ex auto sales have showed a higher sale pace with sales gains of 0.8%, 1.0% and 1.2% in the last three months. This month the expectation is for the headline release to show another rise of 0.4% and for the ex-auto sector to rise by another strong 1.0%. This should be the last of the rebate check effect. Nevertheless, should the number come in as expected, the recent growth in the retail sales, should be a positive for the 2nd quarter GDP figures since consumer spending accounts for greater than 2/3 of US GDP.
