Italian retail sales surprisingly remain upbeat in June

Retail sales in Italy remained surprisingly upbeat during the month of June, judged by the latest retail sales data.

Sales rose by 0.8 per cent on the year, from a revised 1.5 percent decline in the previous month, and compared to a more feeble 0.1 percent gain predicted by economists, data released by statistics agency Istat showed Tuesday.

On the month, sales grew by 0.2 percent, a small decline on the previous month but well above the 0.2 percent decline that markets had earlier expected.

Meanwhile, eurozone consumer confidence remained downbeat on the backdrop of UK’s perceived vote to exit the European Union.