The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported on Wednesday that Germany's retail sales plunged by 5.1 percent m-o-m in July, following a revised 4.5 percent m-o-m surge in June (originally a 4.2 percent m-o-m jump). This represented the first monthly drop in retail sales in last three months and was much worse than economists’ forecast for 0.9 percent m-o-m drop.

According to the report, retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco decreased 2.4 percent m-o-m, while sales at supermarkets, hypermarkets and hypermarkets fell 1.3 percent m-o-m and sales in the non-food retail sector shrank 7.1 percent m-o-m.

In y-o-y terms, retail sales fell 0.3 percent in July, following a revised 6.5 percent climb in the previous month (originally a 6.2 percent increase).