Dow Jones Newswires | W.W. Grainger Inc.’s daily sales rose 16
percent in April, with strong growth abroad and with the total figure
aided by currency fluctuations and acquisitions.

Excluding those items, its growth was 8 percent.

Grainger, which provides equipment to industries, is considered a bellwether of the U.S. economy because of the breadth of its products, which range from lighting to mechanical to janitorial items.

Grainger continued to cut costs into late 2009, though its daily-sales declines began to moderate late last year before turning up in November, its first daily-sales increase in more than a year. They have risen by double-digit comparisons from a year earlier, thanks largely to to lower prior-year levels.

Daily sales rose 8 percent in the U.S., and excluding currency fluctuations were up 17 percent in Canada. Sales nearly tripled at its other businesses, including those it acquired in Japan and India.

Grainger last month reported first-quarter earnings growth of 2.9 percent owing to rebounding sales, though much of the growth was also because of currency affects and acquisitions.

Shares were down  $1.64, to $108.69, in morning trading.