Eurozone Retail Sales declined 1.6% in December vs. -0.9% expected

• Retail Sales fell sharply in euro area in December.
• EUR/USD pair stays under bearish pressure after dismal data.

Retail Sales in the euro area decreased by 1.6% on a monthly basis in December following November's increase of 0.8%, the data published by the Eurostat showed on Wednesday. This reading came in worse than the market expectation for a decrease of 0.9%.

"In December 2019 compared with December 2018, the calendar adjusted retail sales index increased by 1.3% in the euro area and by 1.9% in the EU27," the Eurostat further noted.

EUR/USD reaction

The EUR/USD pair stays in the negative territory following the disappointing retail sales data. As of writing, the pair was down 0.15% on the day at 1.1025.