INSTANT VIEW 4: U.S. retail sales rise in March

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose 0.2 percent in March, pushed up by a jump in gasoline sales, a government report released on Monday showed.

KEY POINTS: * Sales at gasoline stations rose 1.1 percent, the Commerce Department said. * Excluding gasoline sales, retail sales were flat last month, evidence that consumers are wary about spending in an economy that appears to be contracting. * Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting retail sales to be unchanged from the previous month. * Excluding automobiles, retail sales rose 0.1 percent, in line with expectations.

COMMENTS:

MARC PADO, U.S. MARKET STRATEGIST, CANTOR FITZGERALD & CO.:

"You have to look at the fact that it's a retail number, gasoline rising, food prices rising also contributed to the upside of the number. When you strip that out, you're actually unchanged on the retail sales. I would say that it's probably not as positive as the market took it initially. Maybe when they start digging into the number they're see not really as strong as those plus arrows make it look.

"The futures popped up a little bit looking for some positive news to help support the market here and saw the green arrows and jumped on it. But, overall the number isn't that good."

DREW MATUS, SENIOR FINANCIAL ECONOMIST, LEHMAN BROTHERS, NEW

YORK:

"The headline number makes the report out to look better than it is -- it didn't really do anything to our first quarter GDP estimate which is now looking like 0.6 percent. Electronics and all the home furnishing areas are still weak, and I don't necessarily think this is a sign that the U.S. consumer is unaffected by gasoline, and rather it is a report that seems to highlight that consumers are moving into a more cautious mode."

MATTHEW STRAUSS, SENIOR CURRENCY STRATEGIST, RBC CAPITAL

MARKETS, TORONTO:

"Very much in line with expectations, although the headline number just a touch higher-than-expectations. Overall, if we look at the break down, we saw gas receipts playing a fairly important role. If we look at retail sales, ex-auto and gas, it's flat. Not a pretty good number and if we go back to Friday's weak consumer numbers, it bodes ill for retail sales going forward. So I am not surprised to see a minimal reaction from the currency market."

CHRISTOPHER LOW, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FTN FINANCIAL, NEW YORK:

"Most of the Wall Street shops were looking for a decline. It's better when you strip out food and gasoline. It's not a bad result.

"Inflation certainly played a role in March. The volume of goods selling is not increasing, which has been the problem this quarter."

"There is weakness in furniture, electronics, building materials and clothing. While department stores sales were weak, there is very strong showing in catalogue and Internet sales. People seem to be going the extra mile to save a few bucks online.