Retail Sales in the United States (US) declined by 0.9% in May to $715.4 billion, the US Census Bureau announced on Tuesday. This reading followed the 1.5% decrease (revised from +0.1%) recorded in April and came in worse than the market expectation for a contraction of 0.7%. On a yearly basis, Retail Sales were up 3.3%, compared to 5% in April. "Total sales for the March 2025 through May 2025 period were up 4.5% from the same period a year ago," the press release read. "Retail trade sales were down 0.9% from April 2025, and up 3.0% from last year." Other data from the US showed that...
Two oil tankers collided and caught fire on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged during conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries to crew or spillage reported. With Iran and Israel firing missiles at each other since Friday, interference has disrupted navigation systems near the vital sea route between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's oil. The United Arab Emirates coast guard said it had evacuated 24 people from one of the ships, Adalynn, to Khor Fakkan port after the crash 24 nautical miles off its eastern...
Federal Reserve officials met on Tuesday armed with new economic data that could give more weight to their concerns that Trump administration policies, or at least the intense uncertainty around them, will slow growth in the coming months. Shortly before the start of the two-day policy meeting, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that U.S. retail sales fell 0.9% in May, exceeding the expected 0.7% decline in a Reuters poll of economists and marking the biggest drop in four months. The U.S. central bank itself then released a report showing a surprise contraction in industrial production...