Volume of Retail Trade Stable in Euro Area

Retail trade has remained at the same pace between March and April, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

For the whole of the European Union (EU), growth in the sector rose by 0.5%.

Overall, the data was a boost from the figures from March, where activity in retail slipped by 0.6% in both the euro area and the EU.

In April 2016 compared with April 2015, retail sales index increased by 1.4% in the euro area, and by 2.4% in the EU.

The rise of 0.5% in food, drinks and tobacco is a major trend why the sector has increased.

While in the EU, the higher volume of retail trade is due to rise of 0.7% for non-food products, 0.5% for “food, drinks and tobacco”, and of 0.1% for automotive fuel.

The highest increases in retail trade were found in Denmark 4.5%, Poland 3.7%, and Romania 2.8%, while decreases were observed in Finland at minus 1.2%, Germany minus 0.9%, and Malta minus 0.1%.

In both the euro area and the EU, monthly retail trade has increased since the latter part of 2012, and has risen above the pre 2008 recession levels. 

Euro Falls to Dollar After ECB Meeting  

The euro has depreciated against the dollar, following the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to maintain the main refinancing rate at zero, and the bank deposit facility rate at minus 0.4%.

The governing council meeting for June, which took place in Vienna, left current growth forecasts largely unchanged, despite the euro area growing at 0.5% for the first quarter of this year.

ECB President Mario Draghi said that the bank now anticipated growth for this year would be 1.6%, slightly higher than the 1.4% forecast in March.

Euro area inflation the council thought would average 0.2% for this year, then accelerate up to 1.3% next year, and 1.6% in 2018.

The EUR/USD rate has fallen in favour of the greenback, and currently the euro is buying $1.11, from just over $1.12 yesterday afternoon CET.

FC Exchange analyst Daniel Wray said in his daily review of the forex market, that Draghi also signalled his intention to stick with the 80 billion euro quantitative easing (QE) programme at least until March 2017.

Also, that there is a general feeling that the ECB will look to extend the QE program past that date. 

Wholesale Trade Down in Germany  

The wholesale trade sector in Germany has declined in the first quarter of this year, in comparison to the same period last year, by 2.1% official figures have revealed.

Year on year, the figures did not provide any more positive news for the sector, as there was a 3.5% turnover fall in March this year, in contrast to the corresponding month in 2015.

In Spain, data released on export and import price indexes, has shown that exports have fallen to minus 3.6%, that is three tenths lower than March.

While with imports there was a deeper fall, as the index was reduced to minus 6.7% in April, compared to the previous month.

The Spanish government released more encouraging figures on the annual stock and inventory rate in the sales sector in Spain, as it rose by 4.9%.