Adverse German retail sales

In the first eight months of this year retail sales grew by 2.2 percent in real terms, in annual comparison in Germany.

The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Friday that German retail sales slowed in August. Inflation-adjusted retail sales fell 0.4 percent in August from July, which was worse than the 0.2 percent slip expected by the market.

Retail sales in real terms on an annual basis rose 3.7 percent. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a more modest growth of 1.3 percent.