U.S. shoppers reticent, stall global recovery hopes

By Brian Moss

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumers took the wind from the sails of optimists looking for a swift end to the recession on Wednesday as April retail sales fell, signaling they are not yet ready to lead the world back to growth.

Following a report of diving European industrial output and a Bank of England forecast saying Britain needed a long period of healing, hopes slipped for a quick rebound for the global economy.

"This would deal a considerable blow to the 'green shoots' talk and it's possible that would hit some of the recent optimism in the markets and hurt risk appetite," said Robert Blake, senior currency strategist at State Street Global Markets in Boston.

World stocks, which have been gaining as investors sensed the beginnings of a recovery, dropped, with the Dow Jones Industrial average falling 2.2 percent. <MKTS/GLOB> The dollar gained against most major currencies as worries that the recession could continue enhanced the safe-haven allure of the U.S. currency.

Oil continued to fall back from its Tuesday six-month high over $60 on demand concerns, settling in New York at $58.02.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S. financial system is starting to recover and lending is starting to improve. He said he would soon propose a fund backed by large financial institutions that cover the risk of some of those companies failing.

"We have already seen a substantial amount of adjustment in our financial system," Geithner told an audience of community bankers. "The more vulnerable parts of the nonbank financial system no longer exist."

CONFOUNDED

Sales at U.S. retailers fell for a second straight month in April, government data showed. This confounded analysts' forecasts of no change, and of even a small rise when disastrous motor vehicle sales were excluded.

Total sales, which had earlier shown signs of revival, dropped 0.4 percent. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, the fall was even bigger at 0.5 percent, the Commerce Department said.

"The back-to-back gains we had in January and February, which had helped inspire hopes that we were getting out of this recession, just got dealt a significant blow," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities in New York.

As if to reinforce the data, big, midprice U.S. department store chain Macy's Inc (M.N) posted a quarterly loss, although a smaller one than expected, and stuck to its full-year forecast of a sales decline.

Later in the day, Reuters reported General Motors Corp GM.N and Chrysler CBS.UL aim to start notifying as many as 3,000 U.S. dealers as early as Thursday they will be dropped, according to sources, adding to the mood-dampening news.

Euro zone industrial output plummeted by more than 20 percent in March, official data showed, pointing to a sharp contraction in first-quarter economic output.

"There are no green shoots here; everything is either a quarter or a fifth down on the year," said Stuart Bennett, European economist at Calyon. "This sure is a horrible number," added Kenneth Broux, economist at Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets.