HEADLINES FOR BUSINESS INVENTORIES
*U.S. Jan Business Inventories +0.2%, First Rise Since Jan 2001
*U.S. Jan Business Sales +1.1%
*U.S. Jan Retailer Inventories +1.4%; Autos +3.3%
*U.S. Dec Business Inventories Rev To -0.5% From -0.4%
Washington, March 14 (OsterDowJones) Following a heavy period of inventory depletion, U.S. business inventories rose 0.2% in January. This was the first increase in inventories since January 2001, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Analysts surveyed by OsterDowJones, projected a consensus estimate of 0.3% decline. Meanwhile, business sales rose 1.1%.
* * * January's inventory-to-sales ratio decreased to 1.38 from the 1.39 reported in December.
Retail inventories, which provide a final snapshot of the U.S inventory activity for the month, rose 1.4%, while factory inventories shrunk 0.6% . Wholesales inventories, at the same time, fell 0.2%.
WHAT WAS EXPECTED
The spread of estimates by analysts for January business inventories ranged from down 0.5% to up 0.3%.
AUTO RETAIL SECTOR
Retail automotive stocks jumped 3.3% in January, while excluding autos gained a mere 0.6%.
STOCK-TO-SALES RATIO
Retailers' inventories/sales ratio increased to 1.51 in January from a revised 1.49 the previous month. Factory inventories/sales ratio fell to 1.33 versus 1.37 from December.