Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com — In April, the U.S. consumer continued to spend despite concerns about high inflation and the possibility of an economic slowdown.

Retail sales increased 0.9% in March. March data was revised to reflect a 1.4% increase from February. This is twice the 0.7% originally reported. This resulted in a strong 8.2% annual rate for retail sales growth.

Neither was it due to the rising cost of gasoline and groceries. Core retail sales increased 0.6% in March, higher than 0.4% forecast. Also, the March sales saw a 2.1% increase from 1.4% in initial estimates.

According to financial markets, the data indicated that the Federal Reserve intends to continue with its string of large-scale interest rate increases over the next few months. The benchmark yield rose six basis points to 2.944% while the yield on an interest-rate sensitive Treasury Note rose 8 basis point to 2.64%.

While the indices fell by 3 points, they still posted solid gains of more than 1% over the overnight session.