Euro-Zone Retail Sales on Monthly Basis Drop by 0.2% in July, Euro Under Pressure - 5.9.2012

The Retail Sales in July for the 17-nation area dropped by 0.2 per cent compared with the previous month according to Eurostat. Additionally the last drop in Retail Sales was as expected by economists however worse than the revised 0.2 per cent increase in June. From July 2011 to July 2012 Retail Sales declined by 1.7 per cent , which is a greater drop than projected by economists and biggest decrease than the revised 0.9 per cent annual decrease in June. Furthermore, the composite Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) contracted to 46.3 in August from 46.6 in July, indicating that the Euro-zone is getting deeper into recession. The Euro is trading weaker today against the greenback, declining from 1.2540 to 1.2501 in recent trading, it was lastly seen at 1.2518.