South African retail sales rose by 2.9 percent year-on-year in June, above market expectations, after increasing by a revised 1.6 percent in May, data from the statistics office showed Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 2.2 percent year-on-year increase in retail sales in June. On a month-on-month basis, sales inched up 0.2 percent and were up 2.2 percent in the three months to June compared with the same period last year, Statistics South Africa said.