Euro zone Aug retail sales up 0.7 pct vs July, up 2.4 yr-on-yr

Euro zone retail sales slightly exceeded expectations in August, with EU statistics office Eurostat announcing a rise of 0.7 pct from July and a year-on-year increase of 2.4 pct. Eurostat revised July retail sales downwards to a month-on-month rise of 0.4 pct and an increase of 1.9 pct from a year earlier. Its original estimate was for 0.6 pct and 2.5 pct respectively. For August, economists polled by AFX News had forecast a month-on-month rise of 0.6 pct and an increase of 2.0 pct from a year earlier. Month on month, Eurostat said retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco were down 0.4 pct, while the non-food sector posted a rise of 1.6 pct. From a year earlier, food, drinks and tobacco sales gained 0.7 pct, while non-food sector sales were up 3.8 pct