4 Mar 2015
Strong Eurozone retail sales confirm the positive growth momentum – Danske
FXStreet (Barcelona) - Pernille Bomholdt Nielsen, Senior Analyst at Danske Bank, reviews the Eurozone retail sales data release, and further forecasts euro-area GDP to print an above consensus figure at 1.5% in 2015, and private consumption to see a boost.
Key Quotes
“Euro area retail sales increased for a fourth month in a row in January, when they were up 1.1% m/m. The figure for December was revised slightly higher to 0.4% m/m from 0.3% m/m in the first release.”
“The increase in January was mainly driven by strong German retail sales, which showed an increase of 2.9% m/m, and sales in Portugal which were very strong, increasing 6.8% m/m. French retail sales were up 0.1% m/m”
“The fourth month in a row of higher retail sales confirms our view that the recovery in the euro area is gaining momentum and that it is driven by higher growth in private consumption. The strong start to private consumption in Q1 even suggests some upside risk to our forecast for private consumption.”
“We expect GDP growth to be 1.5% in 2015, which is above consensus of 1.2%.”
Key Quotes
“Euro area retail sales increased for a fourth month in a row in January, when they were up 1.1% m/m. The figure for December was revised slightly higher to 0.4% m/m from 0.3% m/m in the first release.”
“The increase in January was mainly driven by strong German retail sales, which showed an increase of 2.9% m/m, and sales in Portugal which were very strong, increasing 6.8% m/m. French retail sales were up 0.1% m/m”
“The fourth month in a row of higher retail sales confirms our view that the recovery in the euro area is gaining momentum and that it is driven by higher growth in private consumption. The strong start to private consumption in Q1 even suggests some upside risk to our forecast for private consumption.”
“We expect GDP growth to be 1.5% in 2015, which is above consensus of 1.2%.”