FX.co ★ Japan Retail Sales Climb 4.2% On Year In October

The value of retail sales in Japan was up 4.2 percent on year in October, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Thursday - coming in at 13.648 trillion yen.

That missed forecasts for an increase of 5.9 percent and was down from the upwardly revised 6.2 percent gain in September (originally 5.8 percent).

On a monthly basis, retail sales slumped 1.6 percent after adding 0.4 percent in the previous month.

Commercial sales shed 1.0 percent on month and rose 1.5 percent to 50.222 trillion yen, while wholesale sales lost 1.2 percent on month and gained 0.6 percent on year to 36.574 trillion yen.

Large retailer sales fell 1.6 percent on month and gained 4.0 percent on year.