US Retail Sales Disappoint, But Key Underlying Metric Strong

Headline US retail sales missed estimates in the first of this week's notable US macro data, but a key underlying metric was solid pointing, perhaps, to some relief for market participants concerned about growth. Nominal spending on goods, bad restaurant food and bar tabs rose 0.2% all told in February, Monday's release showed. Consensus wanted a much stronger, 0.6% advance. The range of guesses from 64 people who make your local weatherman look like a veritable Nostradamus, was -0.4% to 1%.