US business inventories rose a slightly higher than expected 0.2pc in October, according to figures released today by the Commerce Department. This is the sixth consecutive monthly increase in inventories and came in over the consensus of analysts' forecasts for a 0.1pc rise Inventories rose a revised 0.6pc in September, up from the initial estimate of 0.5pc. Business sales rose 0.4pc in October. Sales fell a revised 0.7pc in September, weaker than the initial estimate of a 0.5pc fall. The combination of inventories to sales produced an inventories-to-sales ratio of 1.36 in October, meaning it would take 1.36 months to exhaust the backlog at the October sales pace. The ratio was 1.37 in September.
Year-on-year, inventories were down 0.6pc in October, while sales were up 1.8pc. The increase in inventories in October was concentrated in the retail sector. Retail inventories rose 0.7pc, following a 1.3pc rise in September. The gain was due to auto inventories, which rose 3.0pc in October after rising 2.6pc in September. This is the largest monthly increase in auto inventories since June 2000. //www.fxcentre.com