July 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm by Tom Lydon
Retail sales and related exchange traded funds (ETFs) took a hit today as the June numbers came in.
The 0.1% increase was weaker than analysts had expected, mostly because auto sales have plunged, reports Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press. The 4.6% jump in sales at gas stations wasn’t enough to offset the 3.3% spill in sales at auto dealerships. Had it not been for auto industry weakness, retail sales would have posted a 0.8% jump.
Meanwhile, gas and food prices contributed to the sharpest increase in the wholesale inflation in 27 years, Crutsinger says. Prices for June jumped 1.8%, and over the last 12 months wholesale prices are up 9.2%. It’s the largest year-over-year surge since AC/DC released For Those About to Rock, We Salute You (that’s 1981).
Retail ETFs are mostly up slightly today, but have a ways to go before they can erase this year’s losses. And while consumers might be spending more on gas and food, they’re hardly going on frivolous shopping benders:
- SPDR S&P Retail (XRT), down 18.3% year-to-date
- Retail HOLDRs (RTH), down 8.4% year-to-date
- Vanguard Consumer Staples (VDC), down 7.1% year-to-date
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