— more to come
The US was expected to report an increase of 0.2% in headline sales in December, the month including Christmas, after a rise of the same scale in November, the month including Black Friday. Excluding autos, a more modest rise of 0.1% was predicted after 0.2% beforehand. The all-important retail sales control group carried expectations for an advance of 0.4% after 0.9% beforehand.
EUR/USD traded around 1.1270 ahead of the release. Support is seen at the fresh two-month low of 1.1248. Resistance awaits at the round number of 1.1300.
More: US Retail Sales Preview: Holidays are unpredictable
The data for December is released only now due to the government shutdown. The US also published weekly jobless claims and the Producer Price Index at the same time.
Earlier in the day, German GDP came out at 0% for Q4 2018, below expectations.