German Production Rises; French Trade Gap Widens

Arthi Gupta
07 Jul, 2011
New York City

German industrial production rose more than estimated and French trade gap widened in May. Czech trade surplus rose and Bulgarian retail sales increased in May. Swiss annual inflation climbed in June.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – German industrial production rose more than estimated and French trade gap widened in May. Czech trade surplus rose and Bulgarian retail sales increased in May. Swiss annual inflation climbed in June.[/R]

The Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5% and maintained the size of the quantitative easing at £200 billion.

German Industrial Production Rises

Germany''s seasonally adjusted industrial production rose 1.2% on a monthly basis in May after falling 0.8% in April, driven by robust production in capital goods industry, according to data from the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology released today.

From a year ago, industrial output rose a working-day adjusted 7.6% in May following a downwardly revised 9.3% increase in April.

French Trade Gap Widens

France''s trade gap widened unexpectedly to €7.42 billion in May from €7.17 billion in April, the customs office said today.

Exports fell to €34.17 billion in May from €34.3 billion in April and imports increased to €41.6 billion in May from €41.47 billion in April.

Swiss Inflation Up

Swiss annual inflation rose to 0.6% in June from 0.4% in May, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed.

On a monthly comparison, consumer prices declined 0.2%, mainly due to lower prices for petroleum products and clothing.

Greek Inflation Stabilizes

Inflation in Greece, as measured by the consumer price index was at 3.3% in June, the lowest since February 2010. On a monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.2%.

Czech Trade Surplus Rises

Czech trade surplus rose to CZK 14.4 billion in May from CZK 12.6 billion in April, data from the Czech statistics office showed on Thursday.

Exports surged 18.2% from a year ago in value terms, and imports rose 17.5% in May.

Hungary Industrial Output Increases

Hungary''s industrial production increased 7.6% annually in May compared to the 7.1% growth recorded in April, which was revised up from 6.9%, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office today.

On a monthly basis, industrial output decreased 0.8% in May, reversing the 0.7% rise seen in April.

Bulgaria Industrial Output, Retail Sales Climb

Bulgaria''s industrial production increased a working-day adjusted 7.8% annually in May, slower than the 9.8% growth in April, data released by the National Institute of Statistics showed.

Mining and quarrying production soared 20.8% and manufacturing output grew 5.9% in May.

On a monthly basis, industrial output decreased 0.5% in May, reversing the 1.7% rise recorded in April.

Separately, Bulgaria''s retail sales, excluding the sale of automobiles, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% on a monthly basis in May, faster than the 0.2% growth in April, which was revised up from a 0.2% decrease, according to data released by the National Statistical Institute today.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco decreased 0.4% and sales of non-food products rose 0.4% in May.

From a year ago, retail sales grew a working-day adjusted 1.6% in May, after growing 0.5% in April.