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Japan Retail Sales Accelerate in April

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Japan's retail sales grew 2.1% year-on-year to 13.217 trillion yen in April, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry on Friday showed.

The reading is higher than the 1.4% growth rate the prior month and is the highest in 12 months.

Retail sales climbed 0.2% in food and beverage, surged 15.4% in motor vehicles, jumped 5.5% in machinery and equipment, but contracted 9% in fuel.

Further, commercial sales gained 5.4% on year to 55.64 trillion yen, while wholesale trade jumped 6.5% to 42.423 trillion yen, the data showed.

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