US retail sales posted solid advances in consecutive months for the first time this year, tempering concerns of a retrenchment in spending as consumers remain unsettled by the potential for tariff-induced inflation.

Real Retail Sales are holding steady but on an uptrend from April 2024. The past 2mos saw higher revisions. There was a noted boost in Light Weight Vehicle Sales & Parts with the 16.411Mil SAAR coming in 1mil above the forecasted 15.3Mil level.

Policymakers are under pressure to roll out more stimulus to revive domestic demand and ward off external shocks to the $19 trillion economy.

Here are three of the stories Wall Street is watching on Friday, Aug. 15. Retail sales in July rose 0.5% from the month prior, slightly below the 0.6% economists polled by Bloomberg were expecting. US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting today in Alaska.

Consumer spending ticked up in July in line with economists’ expectations, suggesting American households remain resilient.

US stocks opened mixed Friday as strong retail sales data offset hotter wholesale inflation, with UnitedHealth surging on major investor stakes and Intel jumping on potential government backing.

US stocks were mixed on Friday as Wall Street tempered its rate-cut hopes amid economic data this week showing higher than expected wholesale inflation and a rise in July retail sales. Traders were also awaiting Friday's meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin,