European retail sales tick higher year on year to 3.1%

EU retail sales have been mixed of late but today's monthly number came in line at 0.1% but the year on year figure rose to 3.1%.

Consumer spending in the EU is an important part of the EU's overall issues. After a long period of monetary stimulus, the reading is a good indicator of economic health.

If the shops perform well and the retail sales numbers tick higher it does give you an indication of consumer sentiment. 

According to the official document, the highest increases in the total retail trade volume were registered in Croatia (+2.6%), Ireland (+2.4%) and Romania (+0.7%). The largest decreases were observed in Portugal (-2.4%), Latvia (-1.0%) and Slovenia (-0.7%).

The EUR is reeling from losses yesterday and this morning we have seen a mild retracement. The retail sales figure does not usually inspire a massive amount of volatility unless it is pretty far out of the consensus estimates.

EURUSD is hovering just under the 1.11 level and has pushed 0.15% higher this morning. EUR/GBP is also higher as political woes still hang over the UK like a dark cloud. Right now the pair is also 0.18% higher indicating that this is a mild EUR move to the upside. 

Later in the session, we get US unit labour costs and non-farm productivity along with a whole host of speakers including Fed's Harker, Williams, Evans and ECB's de Guindos, Mersch and Holzmann