US retail sales increase 0.4pc in October

US retail sales increased 0.4% month-on-month in October, according to the Census Bureau, following an upwardly revised 0.8% gain in September and beating consensus estimates of a 0.3% rise.

Electronics and appliance retailers saw the largest increase at 2.3%, while sales at auto dealers rose 1.9% and food services and drinking establishments saw a 0.7% uptick in sales.

In contrast, sales declined 1.6% at miscellaneous store retailers, and were down 1.3% at furniture stores and 1.1% at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores.

Excluding automotive retailers, sales edged up just 0.1% month-on-month.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com