Euro-zone Orders Up; French Sentiment Falls to 7-Month Low

Arthi Gupta
22 Jul, 2011
New York City

Euro-zone industrial orders surged 3.6%, French leading index fell, and Greece swung to deficit in May. German confidence weakened more than anticipated in July.

[R]2:30 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone industrial orders surged 3.6%, French leading index fell, and Greece swung to deficit in May. German confidence weakened more than anticipated in July.[/R]

Euro-zone Orders Up

Industrial new orders in the euro-zone increased a seasonally adjusted 3.6% on a monthly basis in May, after dropping 0.1% in April, according to a report released by the European Union statistics office Eurostat today.

The orders increased the most since August last year, when orders rose 4.5%. Capital order rose 3.2% but durable goods orders dropped 2.2% in May.

Annually, orders rose 15.5% in May, after the 10.3% rise in April, revised up from 8.6%.

Greece Swings to Deficit

Greece''s current account balance swung to a deficit of €2 billion in May compared to a surplus of €307.7 million last year, data released by Bank of Greece showed today.

In the five months ended May, the current account deficit decreased 4.8% from a year ago to €11.7 billion.

German Confidence Slumps

German business sentiment fell more than estimated in July, according to a monthly survey from the Ifo institute.

The Ifo business climate index dropped to 112.9 in July from 114.5 in June.

The current conditions index slid to 121.4 in July, from 123.3 in June. The expectations index fell to 105 in July from a revised 106.2 in June.

French Leading Index Falls, Sentiment Wanes

The leading economic index for France dropped 0.3% to 114.2 in May compared to 0.3% increase in April, according to data from a survey conducted by Conference Board published today.

The deterioration in economic sentiment in May reflected negative contributions from new industrial new orders, production expectations and unemployment claims, the agency said.

The coincident economic index, which measures the current economic activity in the country, edged higher 0.1% to 105.1 in May, driven by growth in industrial production.

Separately, the French business confidence index fell to 105 in July from a revised 110 in June, according to survey results from the national statistics office Insee.

Italy Retail Sales Drop

Italy''s retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.1% on a monthly basis in May, data released by statistics office Istat showed on Friday.

Retail sales of food products fell 0.4% on a monthly basis in May while sales of non-food products remained unchanged.

Retail sales declined 0.6% annually in May.