Fed's Barkin: Retail sales bump in January likely aided by stimulus

The sharp increase witnessed in US Retail Sales in January was likely aided by fiscal stimulus, Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin said on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.

Additional takeaways

"Optimistic for 2021 but recent fiscal package provides help."

"Vaccinated populations have a lot of pent up demand starting toward the middle of the year."

"Seeing more return to a normal business environment in the latter third of the year, overall I'm quite optimistic."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index largely ignored these remarks and was last seen gaining 0.56% on the day at 91.01.