The round of US data releases was quite mixed yesterday, and as discussed by our US economist in this note, likely supported the case for a pause after a July hike by the Federal Reserve. June’s headline retail sales came in a bit softer than expected (0.2% month-on-month) but the control group which excludes some volatile components actually beat consensus (0.6% MoM). The real data miss came on the industrial production side, which confirmed the negative indications of a contracting ISM index and fell 0.5% MoM in June, despite expectations of 0% growth. All in all, markets aren’t lacking evidence of slowing activity ... (full story)