US retail sales drop 0.6% in July, core sales fall 0.3%

Retail sales fell 0.6% month-over-month in July, well below the +0.1% estimate. Core retail sales, excluding autos and gas, declined 0.3% versus an expected +0.2%. The data is from a third-party aggregator and awaits official Census Bureau confirmation. If accurate, it marks a sharp consumer spending slowdown and could increase recession fears. 18 clean stories shaped this window, with sentiment bearish at 38/100. Also in focus: Morgan Stanley expects AI compute demand to outpace supply for years.