Swiss Retail Sales have room for a bit of an improvement: traders saw the SECO measure of consumer confidence rebounded from record lows last week as inflation came to a near-standstill, boosting Swiss consumers’ purchasing power. Importantly, a print in positive territory is unlikely to be anything more a temporary up-tick: unemployment has risen to a 2-year high of 3.3% and will weigh on disposable incomes as well as prompt precautionary saving; further, the fallout in price growth will work against consumption if inflation turns negative (a reasonable proposition considering CPI printed at just 0.1% in January), for if consumers expect prices to fall in the future they will perpetually put off purchases to get the best possible deal, putting the brakes on spending altogether.
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