China: Growth in retail sales stabilizes in December
In December, nominal retail sales grew 8.0% on an annual basis, matching the result in November. The print was slightly above the 7.9% increase that market analysts had expected. December’s reading mainly reflected that stronger sales of oil and oil-related products and cars were offset by lower sales of food, household appliances and clothing and footwear.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, retail sales expanded 0.53% in December, below the 0.80% increase in November. Meanwhile, annual average growth in retail sales stabilized at November’s 8.1% in December.