UNITED STATES: US apparel retail sales shine in June.

Retail same-store sales booked yesterday jumped to 7.1% growth in June according to Kantar Retail - beating the 5.7% same-store sales gain last month and a rise of 3.2% in June last year.

Growth held up in discretionary purchases at specialty apparel and department stores, helped by promotions to clear inventories of summer lines to make way for back-to-school ranges.

"June is peak season for weddings and graduations, and this may have helped the continuing strong growth of both luxury and jewellery sectors," adds Michael McNamara, vice president, research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, which follows retail sales across all payment forms.

He also notes that strong sales of specialty apparel in June were helped by easy year-on-year comparisons, "given that in April 2010 this sector started to record some weakness that lasted a few months."

Tony Buccina, vice chairman and president of merchandising at department stores operator Bon-Ton Stores Inc, said the arrival of more seasonal weather in the second half of June "led to the best sales performance of warm weather categories we have experienced all season."

And JC Penney said its men's apparel businesses saw "solid sales increases" thanks to the Father's Day shopping period - but was forced to lower its same-store sales forecast for the second quarter.

Other department store rivals fared better, though, with same-store sales growth at Macy's Inc up 6.7% in June, and Kohl's up 7.5%

Other winners included Victoria's Secret operator Limited Brands Inc, which booked 12% same-store sales growth, as well as teen retailers Hot Topic( 0.4%), Buckle Inc.( 10.8%) andWet Seal( 7.3%). Even Gap Inc managed a gain, coming in with 1% growth.