Italian retail sales rise sequentially above expectations in November

Italian retail trade index rose sequentially in November. Retail sales rose 0.7 percent, a rise from 0.2 percent seen in the prior month and above consensus expectations of 0.2 percent. On a year-on-year, retail sales were up 1.6 percent in value terms, while the quantity sold was up 1.8 percent, noted Istat.

In the three months to November 2018, the value of retail trade stayed widely flat when compared to the previous three months, while the volume rose a bit by 0.2 percent. Large scale distribution recorded a year-on-year rise of 1.8 percent, nevertheless small-scale distribution is estimated to have fallen 0.1 percent. The value of online sales indicated solid growth when compared with the previous year at 22.4 percent.

Looking at the sales value by product category, in November 2018 the sharpest growth was seen in electric household appliances, audio-video equipment, followed by rises in shoes, leather goods and travel items and in computers and telecommunications equipment. Falls were seen in stationery, books, newspapers, and magazines and sporting equipment, games, and toys.

At 12:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Euro was highly bullish at 101.554, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bearish at -57.7241. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex