Retail sales in Japan increased as expected in September, after falling in the previous month, preliminary figures from the ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry cited by rttnews.

Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent month-over-month in September, reversing a 1.6 percent fall in August. The figure also matched consensus estimate.

On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to 2.2 percent in September from 1.8 percent in August.

Economists had expected the growth to improve to 2.3 percent. Sales have been rising since November last year.