German retail sales fall in November, deeper than market expectations

Retail sales in Germany fell during the month of November, far worse than what markets had initially anticipated.

Germany’s Retail sales dropped a calendar-and-seasonally-adjusted 1.8 percent from October, when they rose a revised 2.5 percent. Economists had forecast a 0.9 percent decline. The latest fall was the first since March, preliminary data released by Destatis showed Friday.

On a year-on-year basis, however, retail sales grew 3.2 percent in November, which was much better than the 1.2 percent gain economists had predicted and the fastest in three months. In October, sales fell 0.8 percent, revised from 1 percent.

Food sales grew 2 percent and non-food sales increased 3 percent from a year ago. Internet and mail order sales jumped 7.8 percent annually. The statistics agency also said that German retail sales growth was estimated to be between 1.8 percent and 2.1 percent in 2016, which is weaker than the 2.5 percent gain registered in 2015.

Meanwhile, the EUR/USD has formed a bearish 'doji' pattern and is currently trading at 1.06, down -0.02 percent, while at 9:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained slightly bullish at 91.00 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex