PARIS — Data underscoring the depth of Spain’s economic problems dampened investor enthusiasm in Europe, but most stock markets turned positive as Wall Street opened.

Spanish retail sales fell in April by a record 9.8 percent from a year earlier, the 22nd consecutive monthly decline, the government statistics institute said in Madrid. In a separate report, the Bank of Spain forecast that the economy would continue contracting throughout the first half of 2012, after shrinking by 0.3 percent in the first three months of the year.  Read more