US Consumer Spending Signals Negativity

Market Overview
Read time 1.9 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. As the holiday season approaches, October's retail sales data signals a downturn in consumer spending, with a slight decrease of 0.08% in sales, excluding autos and gas. Delving deeper, core retail sales, which also exclude restaurants, show a marginal drop of 0.03%. Despite this, both overall retail and core retail sales have seen a year-on-year increase of 2.6%. The decline was particularly noticeable in sectors like electronics, appliances, furniture, and home goods, while sectors like sporting goods, hobby stores, and non-store retail, which includes online sales, remained strong. The health and personal care segment also saw encouraging trends.

2. Meanwhile, in China, major e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba and JD.com, reported sales growth during the Singles Day sales festival. This festival is a significant indicator of consumer confidence in China and saw an expansion in promotions this year. While the outlook for the Chinese economy remains poor, its underlying figures show a much healthier economy than the United States.

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4. Headlines

   1. Currently, 30% of all US Mortgages have an interest rate under 3%; the current average rate is 7.63%.

   2. Emirates Airlines has placed a $52B order for new airplanes as it continues to establish itself as the premier hub in the Middle East.

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   ¹ Count determined as the number of unique email addresses in StartEngine’s database as of 10-6-2023.}

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