Ahead of the US CPI release.........>

US DATA PREVIEW: Ahead of the US CPI release tomorrow, analysts at Barclays

forecast retail sales to have increased 0.3% m/m in February. For sales

excluding motor vehicles, they forecast a 0.4% increase. Excluding volatile

items such as autos, gasoline stations, food services and building materials,

they expect retail sales to be up 0.3% m/m.

BMO look for headline retail sales to rise 0.4%, braked a bit by lower vehicle

sales volumes, but fuelled by slightly higher gasoline prices.

CIBC expect a 0.5% gain in those core sales to drive a modest 0.2% increase in

headline retail sales.

Commerzbank anticipate a large gain of 0.5% in retail sales in February

(consensus: 0.3%). This is all the more remarkable as gasoline prices have

fallen slightly according to our seasonal adjustment, and so nominal sales at

the gas pump have probably declined.

TD expect retail sales to rise 0.2%, with the control group up 0.3%.