Economic sentiment in Euro area firms, while Spanish retail sales grow

The Eurozone's economic confidence showed some improvements in September, as demonstrated by survey data from the European Commission. The economic sentiment index climbed to 105.6 in September from August's 104.1. The advance in the Euro zone's sentiment was mainly caused by improvements in retail trade, industry, and services. The confidence gauges for corresponding sectors rose to -2.2, 4.1, and 12.4 from last month's -3.7, 3.5, and 10.1, respectively. In the meantime, Spanish retail sales experienced a growth for the 12th month in a row in August, despite the fact that the growth rate was slightly lower than that of July. In August, retail businesses of the Eurozone's fourth largest economy jumped up 3.2% on an annual basis, which was in line with economists' expectations. As to the Germany's inflation, the preliminary reading showed that consumer prices shrank 0.2% month-on-month in September, compared to the flat gauge in the prior month. Meanwhile, markets expected to see a 0.1% decline in the ninth month of the year. In annual terms, the cost of living in Germany stayed flat in September, following a 0.2% gain in August and missing expectations of a 0.1% increase. Negative inflation in the Euro zone's number one economy added to ECB's headache, as the bank set the inflation target of below, but close to, 2%.