German Retail Sales Fall 2.0% in September, Missing Forecast for 0.4% Gain

• German September retail sales fell 2.0% m/m, versus +0.4% expected
• Annual sales down 2.3%, versus revised -0.3% prior
• Fuel, food and non-food sales all declined
• EUR/USD up about 0.27% near 1.11, little reaction

German retail sales unexpectedly dropped 2.0% month-on-month in September, Destatis reported, versus a consensus forecast of +0.4%. August was revised to +1.2% from +1.3%. On an annual basis, sales fell 2.3%, a deeper decline than the revised -0.3% previously (initially -0.4%). The weakness was broad: petrol station sales fell 3.4%, food sales fell 1.4% and non-food sales fell 2.4% from August. FXStreet noted the data had little apparent impact on the euro, with EUR/USD up about 0.27% near 1.11 at the time of writing, while InvestingLive framed the soft consumption as an added complication for the ECB.