There was a raft of economic data from the eurozone yesterday, but the majority of it came in more or less as expected. Retail sales for July were slightly disappointing, as year-on-year, they grew by 1.1% against an expectation of 1.3%. Month-over-month they fell by 0.2% which was as expected.
Composite and services PMI in Germany came in at 55.6 and 55 respectively, against expectations of 55.7 and 55. Both readings showed a robustness that was welcomed by investors and the euro made some gains against the dollar. While it lost some ground against sterling following the Brexit reports, it did later climb back.
It was a similar story for composite and services PMI in the eurozone, with the figures coming in at 54.5 and 54.4 respectively, against expectations of 54.4 for both. Today we have factory orders and construction PMI from Germany.
