Euro Area Orders Rise; Spain Mortgages Drop 12.1%

Arthi Gupta
22 Jun, 2011
New York City

Euro-zone industrial orders rose in April. French business sentiment strengthened and Danish consumer sentiment improved in June. Swedish jobless rate fell in May to 7.9%. Spanish mortgage lending dropped in April by 12.1%. Swiss investor confidence weakened.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone industrial orders rose in April. French business sentiment strengthened and Danish consumer sentiment improved in June. Swedish jobless rate fell in May to 7.9%. Spanish mortgage lending dropped in April by 12.1%. Swiss investor confidence weakened.[/R]

Euro Area Industrial Orders Rise

Euro-zone industrial new orders grew 0.7% on a monthly basis in April, after falling 1.5% in March, data from Eurostat showed today.

On a yearly basis, industrial new orders advanced at a slower pace of 8.6% in April after rising 14.3% in March.

French Business Sentiment Strengthens

French business confidence index rose to 109 in June, from the revised 106 in May, survey results from the statistics office Insee showed today.

The indicator measuring personal production outlook rose to 14 in June from 9 in May and general production expectations fell to 13 in June from 15 in May.

Swiss Investor Confidence Weakens

Swiss investor confidence dropped significantly in June, survey results from the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) and Credit Suisse showed.

The Credit Suisse-ZEW indicator for economic expectations fell 12.8 points from a month earlier to minus 24.3 in June.

Danish Consumer Sentiment Improves

Denmark''s headline consumer confidence index increased to 3 in June from 2.6 in May, reflecting improvement in consumers'' assessment of their present financial situation, data from Statistics Denmark showed on Wednesday. The latest data is the highest since January, when the reading was 3.3.

Dutch Consumer Confidence Deteriorates

Consumer confidence in the Netherlands deteriorated minus 11 in June from minus 10 in May, data released by Statistics Netherlands showed. The latest reading was the lowest since December 2010, when the reading was minus 14.

Swedish Jobless Rate Falls, Sentiment Declines

Swedish jobless rate fell 0.9 percentage points to 7.9% in May, Statistics Sweden said. The number of unemployed decreased 40,000 to 395,000.

The number of unemployed persons on a seasonally adjusted basis was 386,000 in May, resulting in an unemployment rate of 7.7%.

Sweden''s economic sentiment index declined to 110.6 in June from 112.1 in May, which was revised down from 112.4, data from a survey conducted by the National Institute of Economic Research (NIER) showed on Wednesday.

Polish Retail Sales Growth Slackens, Unemployment Falls

Poland''s retail sales, at current, prices increased 13.8% annually in May, slower than the 18.6% increase in April, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco climbed 9% annually.

On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 1.1% in May, reversing the 2.3% rise recorded in April.

Separately, the agency said Poland'' unemployment rate decreased to 12.2% in May from 12.6% in April. The number of jobless persons dropped to 1.96 million in May from 2.04 million in April.

Norway Unemployment Rate Up

Norway''s seasonally adjusted jobless rate climbed to 3.4% in April from 3.3% in March, the labor force survey data released by Statistics Norway showed on Wednesday.

The number of unemployed also increased in April, rising to 89,000 from 86,000 in March.

Spanish Mortgage Lending Drops, Deficit Narrows

The decline in Spanish mortgage lending continued in April, the statistics office INE said. The average value of mortgages in April fell 12.1% from the previous year to €113,425. On a monthly basis, it dropped 2.7% in April after falling more than 9% in March.

The average value of mortgages on housing declined to €106,889, 6.1% lower than in April 2010. On a monthly basis, it fell 4.9% in April.

Spain''s trade deficit narrowed 20.8% annually to €3.96 billion in April, data released by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce showed on Wednesday.

Export of goods increased 18.6% annually to €17.34 billion in April while import of goods rose 8.5% from last year to €21.31 billion in April.