European Economic News Preview: UK Retail Sales & PSNB Data Due

(RTTNews) - Retail sales and public sector finance from the UK and business confidence from France are the top economic news due on Friday.

At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics publishes UK retail sales and public sector finance figures. Retail sales are forecast to grow 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in August, slower than the 0.6 percent rise in July. The UK budget deficit is seen widening to GBP 12.8 billion in August from GBP 1.05 billion in July. In the meantime, Destatis is slated to issue Germany's producer prices for August. Producer prices are forecast to fall 1.8 percent year-on-year, sharper than the 1.5 percent decrease in July.

At 2.45 am ET, France's statistical office INSEE publishes manufacturing sentiment survey data. The confidence index is forecast to remain unchanged at 96 in September.