Japan retail sales fall for first time this year

NEW YORK (Forex News Now) – Japanese retail sales fell for the first time in 2010, data showed on Monday in one of the day’s major realtime forex news events.

In a report that should impact currency market trading, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that the total value of retail sales fell 0.2% in October, down from a rise of 1.4% in September.

Analysts had expected October’s figure to come in at around 0.8%, according to reports from major online FX trading news outlets.

The worse-than-forecast data is expected to have a negative impact on the yen, as retail sales are the key indicator of consumer spending.