Every man, woman and their dog was blown away with the massive 1.2 per cent rise in Australian retail sales in November. It was enough to spark a sell-off in the bond market and a jump in the Aussie dollar.
The ABS noted in the release that the surge was influenced by the release of the iPhoneX which at around $1,500 a pop, was a big enough issue to mention.
Of course, the iPhoneX was released around the world at the same time in November which prompted me to have a look at the retail sales results in other parts of the world – to see if the iPhone effect was important elsewhere or just confined to Australia.
And guess what?
Retail sales in November were unexpectedly strong everywhere that matters, and by a large margin and the bulk of the result was driven by a surge in sales of electronic goods.
Have a look at the actual retail sales in November versus expectations:
US 0.8% versus 0.3% expected: Difference 0.5%
UK 1.1% versus 0.4% expected: Difference 0.7%
Canada 1.5% versus 0.3% expected: Difference 1.2%
Eurozone 1.5% versus 1.3% expected: Difference 0.2%
Japan 1.9% versus 0.7% expected: Difference 1.2%
Average difference 0.8%
Which puts Australia’s result in context
Australia 1.2% versus 0.4% expected: Difference 0.8%
What do you know?
US retail sales are out Friday – will there be a snap back? All eyes will be watching as it could be the lead for the global economy and markets.