US chain store sales fall for latest week's figures

24/02/2004 - 14:24:54
In Washington, reports indicate that weekly chain store sales fell in the latest week after two consecutive strong weekly gains, according to the ICSC-UBS weekly chain store index.

The index fell 0.2% in the week ended 21 February.

But the index strengthened to an 8.1% year-over-year increase, compared with a 7.5% year-over-year increase in the previous week.

This is the strongest reported year-over-year pace since the week ended May 8, 1999.

ICSC-UBS said its February sales forecast to a gain of 5-6%, compared with the previous forecast of 5%.