Retail Sales (Mar 2020) Preview -.....>

EUROZONE DATA: Retail Sales (Mar 2020) Preview - 10:00 BST

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- Bloomberg Consensus: -11.5% m/m, -6.5% y/y; Prev (Feb): +0.9% m/m, 3.0% y/y. 

- Sales are expected to plunge in March, with markets pencilling a fall of 11.5%

m/m as the Covid-19 related containment measures impacted consumer activity. 

- The expected March decrease would more than offset the Jan (+0.7%) and Feb

(+0.9%) m/m gains. 

- State-level data projects a gloomy outlook, with German sales slumping -5.6%

in March, while French sales collapsed by 24% compared to Feb. 

- Spanish sales fell by 15.3% in Mar and Italian sales are forecast to drop 15% 

- The March composite PMI recorded the lowest level on record for the outlook 12

months out, while the German Ifo expectations index for the service sector also

recorded a sharp fall. 

- However, several countries started to open up their economies at the end of

April/beginning of May, hence May figures should see some improvement, although

the recovery is likely to be gradual.