Australia Retail Sales: The beginning of wild swings – Westpac

Spectacular stockpiling surge offsets initial virus hit to exposed segments, economists at Westpac Institutional Bank apprise. AUD/USD is rising 0.8% to 0.6331.

Key quotes

“The ABS has released a preliminary estimate for March retail sales showing a huge 8.2% rise in the month as a spectacular stockpiling-driven surge in segments like basic food more than offset weakness in a segment hit hard by the Coronavirus shutdown.”

“The update is clearly exciting but does not provide much guidance for assessing the economic impact of the virus in the broader economy.” 

“The main message is that March marked the beginning of what will clearly be some wild swings in the domestic economy moving in several different directions.”