Australia's Dec retail sales misses expectations

Australia's retail sales for the month of December came at -0.1% vs +0.3% expected and -1.9% last. The data is a negative input for the Aussie, last trading at 0.7660.

December key points

CURRENT PRICES 

The trend estimate rose 0.3% in December 2016. This follows a rise of 0.3% in November 2016 and a rise of 0.3% in October 2016.

The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 0.1% in December 2016. This follows a rise of 0.1% in November 2016 and a rise of 0.4% in October 2016.

In trend terms, Australian turnover rose 3.2% in December 2016 compared with December 2015.

The following industries rose in trend terms in December 2016: Food retailing (0.4%), Household goods retailing (0.3%), Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (0.3%), Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.2%), Department Stores (0.1%) and Other retailing (0.1%).

The following states and territories rose in trend terms in December 2016: New South Wales (0.3%), Victoria (0.4%), Queensland (0.3%), South Australia (0.1%), Western Australia (0.1%), Tasmania (0.3%), the Northern Territory (0.6%) and the Australian Capital Territory (0.2%).

VOLUME MEASURES 

In volume terms, the trend estimate for Australian turnover rose 0.3% in the December quarter 2016.