French Confidence Flat; Spain Producer Price Inflation Climbs

Arthi Gupta
25 Apr, 2011
New York City

The confidence index among French manufacturers was flat in April. Hungarian retail sales improved and Italian sales grew in February. Austrian industrial output rose in February. Dutch consumer spending improved in February. Spain producer price inflation climbed in March.

[R]12:15 PM Frankfurt – The confidence index among French manufacturers was flat in April. Hungarian retail sales improved and Italian sales grew in February. Austrian industrial output rose in February. Dutch consumer spending improved in February. Spain producer price inflation climbed in March.[/R]

French Manufacturers' Confidence Flat

French manufacturers' confidence stabilized in April, survey data from the statistics office Insee showed on Friday. The sentiment indicator was at 110 in April, unchanged from March's revised reading. The earlier estimate for March showed a reading of 109.

The production outlook index also remained unchanged at 20 in April. March's score was revised down to 20 from 21 reported earlier.

Hungary Retail Sales Improve

Hungarian retail sales adjusted for calendar effects rose 0.2% annually in February, following January's 0.1% gain, data from the Central Statistics Office showed on Friday.

On a monthly basis, retail sales were flat in February on a calendar-and-seasonally adjusted basis, after a 0.8% rise in January. Retail sales increased for the second month in a row.

Italy Retail Sales Up

Italian retail sales increased a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in February after a 0.3% decline in January, data released by the statistics office ISTAT showed.

Food sales rose 0.2% in February from January's 0.5% decline and non-food sales were flat in February, after a 0.2% fall in January.

Austria's Industrial Production Rises

Austria's industrial output grew 10.6% annually in February, Statistics Austria said. On a monthly basis, production increased 0.5%.

However, construction output fell 0.3% annually, but rose 6.6% on a monthly basis in February.

Total production in February expanded 8.9% annually, while rising 1.6% from a month ago. Energy production was 6.8% higher than a year earlier, the statistical office said. But, it declined 1.9% month-on-month.

Dutch Consumer Spending Improves

Dutch consumer spending increased a calendar-adjusted 0.3% annually in February, following revised January's 0.2% gain from the previous estimate of 0.7%, data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.

Spending on food, drinks and tobacco rose 0.4% in February after a 0.6% decline in January.

Spain Producer Price Inflation Climbs

Spanish producer prices recorded an annual growth of 7.8% in March after rising 7.6% in February, the statistics office INE said. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.9% in March, the same rate of growth as seen in February.

Producer prices of capital goods advanced 1.2%, intermediate goods increased 8%, and energy prices surged 18.8% in March.