Japan Retail Trade comes in mostly better-than-expected, annualized in at 2.1%

Japan's early reading of Retail Trade for September came in above expectations, with the annualized headline Retail Trade figure printing at 2.1% versus the market median forecast of 1.6%, though the numbers still contracted slightly from the previous month's 2.7%.

Seasonally-adjusted m/m figures also declined, clocking in at a contracting -0.2% versus the previous month's showing of 0.9%, while Large Retailers' Sales for September managed to upright themselves, coming in at 0.4% versus the previous month's -0.1% slide.