The Federal Statistical Office's (Destatis) report revealed that German retail sales rose more than expected m-o-m in June but unexpectedly decelerated in y-o-y terms. According to the report, retail sales rose by 1.1 percent m-o-m in real terms in June, following a 0.5 percent m-o-m rise in May. That beat economists' forecast of just 0.2 percent m-o-m advance and was the strongest increase since October 2016, when retail turnover advanced 1.5 percent m-o-m.

However, in y-o-y terms, retail sales grew by 1.5 percent in June, decelerating sharply from an upwardly revised 4.9 percent gain in May (originally a 4.8 percent rise). Economists expected to see a 2.7 percent growth. June's gain was the second consecutive increase in sales.