MNI DATA IMPACT: Japan June Retail Sales Up 0.5% Y/Y

     TOKYO (MNI) - Slower sales of general merchandise, motor vehicles and fuel

put a dampener on Japanese retail sales in June on a year-on-year basis, data

from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed Monday.

     Here are the key points from the latest retail sales data:

     --Retail sales rose 0.5% year-on-year in June, slower than the 1.3% y/y

growth in May but higher than the 0.1% y/y growth projected by MNI. 

     --General merchandise sales dipped 2.6% y/y in June from the previous 2.2%

y/y fall. Sales for machinery and equipment also slowed to 5.6% y/y from 5.9%

y/y reported in May.

     --Fuel sales dropped 3.9% y/y, sharply lower than the 0.3% gain recorded in

May. Sales for medicine and from toiletry stores shrank to 2.0 y/y from May's

4.7% y/y. 

     --Sales of food and beverages rose 1.5% y/y, following last month's 1.3%

y/y increase. Sales for fabric apparels and accessories increased 4.2% y/y,

higher than 4.0% y/y in May.

     --On a monthly basis retail sales were unchanged on a monthly basis in

June, after rising 0.4% in May. 

--MNI Beijing Bureau; tel: +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: flora.guo@marketnews.com

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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