U.S. chain store sales bounced higher in the latest week following softness in previous weeks related largely to economic fallout from Hurricane Katrina and higher gasoline prices, a report said on Tuesday.
Sales were 0.6 percent higher in the week to October 1 after rising just 0.1 percent in the prior week and falling in the previous two weeks before that, ICSC and UBS said in a joint report. The latest gain was the largest week-over-week gain since July 30, the report said.