Retail sales rebounded 2.6% in July after two-month decline

Auto sales jumped 23.7% compared to last month.

Retail sales rose 2.6% MoM to about $3.6b in July, the Department of Statistics reported. The monthly figure broke two straight months of contraction, according to OCBC Treasury Research.

On a YoY basis, sales fell 1.8%, although the decline was smaller than the 8.9% drop from last month.

Also read: Retail sales down 8.9% to $3.5b in June

Motor vehicle sales surged 23.7% MoM and inched up 1.5% YoY. However, retail sales outside of autos declined for the sixth month by 2.4% YoY and 0.7% MoM.

Other segments that posted positive on-month growth were furniture and household equipment at 3.0% and computer and telecommunications equipment at 2.9%.

Compared to the previous year, most retail segments also underperformed, except for medical goods and toiletries whose sales grew 1.9%, as well as supermarkets and hypermarkets at 0.9%.

Furniture and household equipment saw the largest sales decline at 8.3% YoY, followed by computer and telecommunication equipment at 7.7%, watches and jewellery at 6.2%, and recreational goods at 4.9%.

Online sales comprised 5.6% of the total sales in the same month.

Meanwhile, sales of food & beverage services grew 3.2% YoY but declined 1.5% MoM at around $877m in July. Fast food outlets posted the biggest growth at 5.8% YoY and 3.8% MoM.