German PPI Rises to 5.8%; Swiss Current Account Surplus Up

Arthi Gupta
19 Aug, 2011
New York City

German producer price inflation rose in July. The monthly earnings index for Hungary increased 4.7% from a year ago in June. French leading index increased in June. Swiss current account surplus improved in 2010.

[R]2:10 PM Frankfurt – German producer price inflation rose in July. The monthly earnings index for Hungary increased 4.7% from a year ago in June. French leading index increased in June. Swiss current account surplus improved in 2010.[/R]

German PPI Rises

German producer prices increased 5.8% from a year ago in July compared to the 5.6% rise in June, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed on 10.6% annual surge in producer prices of energy.

Producer cost of intermediate goods rose 5.6% and factory costs of consumer goods increased 4% from July last year.

On a monthly basis, the index gained 0.7% in July.

Austrian PPI Slows

Austria''s producer price index rose 3.9% annually in June as against the 4.6% growth in May; data released by Statistics Austria showed on Friday. The latest gain was the smallest since September 2010, when prices moved up 3.3%.

Output prices of intermediate goods gained 4.7% and capital goods prices edged higher 0.7% from a year ago in June

Producer prices fell 0.1% on a monthly basis in June, reversing the 0.2% increase in May.

French Leading Index Up, Decline in New Enterprises

France''s leading economic index increased in June, according to data from a survey conducted by Conference Board published today.

The leading economic index rose 0.5% to 114.8 in June from 114.2 in May, mainly from contributions from the interest rate spread, industrial new orders and production expectations.

The coincident economic index, which measures current economic conditions, edged higher 0.1% to 105.2 in June, driven mainly by substantial gains in personal consumption expenditures and employment.

Separately, the number of newly-formed enterprises, including self-managed firms, established in France was 38,969 in July, 15.1% less than June, according to seasonally and working day adjusted data released by the statistics office Insee today.

Swiss Surplus Improves

Switzerland''s current account surplus grew by around Sfr25 billion annually to Sfr85.9 billion in 2010, accounting for 16% of the gross domestic product, according to data released by the Swiss National Bank today.

The capital transfers account showed a deficit of Sfr4.5 billion from a year ago in 2010 as against the Sfr3.8 billion deficit in the previous year.

Hungarian Monthly Earnings Index Slackens

The monthly earnings index for Hungary increased 4.7% from a year ago in June versus the 6.7% rise recorded in May, the Hungarian Central Statistics Office said. Earnings increased for a third straight month.