Euro Area Order Growth Slackens; German Sentiment Weakens

Arthi Gupta
27 Apr, 2011
New York City

Euro-zone order growth slowed in February. German consumer sentiment forecasted to weaken in May and French consumer sentiment remained static in April. Finnish manufacturing confidence fell and consumer sentiment improved in April. Polish retail sales increased and jobless rate fell in March.

[R]1:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone order growth slowed in February. German consumer sentiment forecasted to weaken in May and French consumer sentiment remained static in April. Finnish manufacturing confidence fell and consumer sentiment improved in April. Polish retail sales increased and jobless rate fell in March.[/R]

Euro-zone Industrial Order Growth Slows

New orders received by euro-zone''s industrial sector rose for a fifth consecutive month in February, data released by Eurostat showed today.

Total industrial orders increased 0.9% on a monthly basis, slower than January''s upwardly revised 1.2% gain.

Annually, new orders were 21.3% higher in February compared to January''s upwardly revised 21.9% increase.

German Consumer Sentiment Drops

Confidence among German consumers is likely to weaken for the second consecutive month in May, a survey reported today.

Market research group GfK said its forward-looking consumer sentiment indicator for May fell to 5.7 from 5.9 points in April.

French Consumer Sentiment Static

French consumer confidence remained unchanged in April after a marginal decline in March, a monthly survey from the statistics office Insee showed.

Households'' confidence index remained stable at 83 in April.

The indicator measuring households'' assessment of their past financial situation dropped by two points to minus 29 in April, while the gauge of their one-year ahead expectations improved to minus 21 in April from minus 23 in March.

Italian Consumer Confidence Declines

Confidence among Italian consumers weakened in April due to widespread pessimism regarding the economy''s short-term outlook, a survey by the country''s statistics office showed on Wednesday.

The headline consumer confidence index dropped to 103.7 in April from a revised 105.1 in March.

The current situations index rose to 114.4 in April from 113.9 in March, while the indicator for short-term expectations slid to 90.1 in April from 93.7 in March.

Finnish Manufacturing Confidence Falls, Sentiment Improves

Finland''s industrial confidence indicator fell to 7 in April from 11 in March, a monthly survey by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK showed on Wednesday.

Finland''s consumer confidence index rose to 17.8 in April from 17.7 in March, data released by Statistics Finland showed on Wednesday.

German Leading Index Up

Germany''s leading economic index rose 0.7% in February to 107.9, following an increase of 0.6% in January data from the Conference Board showed. The largest contribution to the increase came from new residential construction orders.

In addition, data showed that the coincident index rose 0.3% in February, following a 0.5% increase in January.

Polish Retail Sales Increases, Jobless Rate Declines

Retail sales in Poland increased 9.4% annually in March, slower than February''s 12.2% increase, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed on Wednesday.

Sales of automobiles and parts advanced 8.7% while food and beverages sales dropped 3.5% annually.

Separately, Poland''s unemployment rate slightly declined to 13.1% in March from 13.2% in February, after increasing for four consecutive months, latest data showed. The number of unemployed fell to 2.13 million in March from 2.15 million in February.