Euro Zone Retail Sales Improve; Spanish Output Falls

Arthi Gupta
05 Dec, 2011
New York City

Euro zone retail sales rebounded but Spanish industrial production fell in October. Euro area investor sentiment weakened in December and private sector economy contracted in November. Finland said gross domestic product rose 0.9% in the third quarter.

[R]2:40 PM Frankfurt – Euro-zone retail sales rebounded but Spanish industrial production fell in October. Euro area investor sentiment weakened in December and private sector economy contracted in November. Finland said gross domestic product rose 0.9% in the third quarter.[/R]

Euro-zone Retail Sales Rebounds

Euro-zone retail sales rebounded in October, driven by better performance in Germany and France, data from Eurostat showed today.

The volume of retail trade grew 0.4% on a monthly basis in October compared to the 0.6% drop in September.

Food product sales rose 0.2% in October after staying flat in September. Non-food product sales climbed 0.5% in October, reversing a 0.8% drop in September.

On a yearly basis, retail sales declined 0.4% in October as against the 1.4% drop in September.

In the EU27, sales were 0.4% higher than in September, while sales were remained flat on a yearly basis in October.

Retail sales in Germany climbed 0.7% and in France gained 0.8%.

Euro-zone Sentix Index Falls, Private Sector Contracts

Euro-zone investor sentiment weakened in December impacted by the deteriorating debt crisis, results of a survey by the think tank Sentix showed. The Sentix investor confidence index dropped to -24 in December from -21.2 in November.

Separately, euro-zone private sector contracted more than initially estimated in November, final data from Markit Economics showed today.

The composite Purchasing Managers' Index contracted for the third month in November to 47, down from the flash reading of 47.2 but above 46.5 logged in October.

In a separate report, Markit said the services PMI rose to 47.5 in November from 46.4 in October, below the flash estimate of 47.8.

German Service Sector Activity Drops

Activity in the German service sector dropped in November, final data from a survey by Markit Economics showed.

The seasonally adjusted business activity index for the service sector was at 50.3 in November, lower than 51.4 recorded in the flash estimates and the October reading of 50.6.

French Service Sector Activity Slides

The final Markit service activity index for France was at 49.6 in November compared to the flash estimate of 49.3, higher than the reading of 44.6 in October.

Italian Services Activity Shrinks

The Italian service sector contracted for a sixth month in November, Markit Economics said. The Markit/ADACI Business Activity Index rose to 45.8 in November from 43.9 in October.

Spanish Service Sector Decreases

Activity in the Spanish service sector decreased owing to a sharp fall in new business amid deepening economic slowdown, data from a survey by Markit Economics showed today.

The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index for the service sector dropped to 36.8 in November from 41.8 in October, marking the fastest decline since March 2009.

Spanish Output Declines

Spanish industrial production fell for the second straight month in October, the statistics office INE said on Monday.

Industrial output dipped 4.2% from a year ago in October compared to the 1.4% decrease in September.

Finland GDP Growth Accelerates

Finland's gross domestic product rose 0.9% in the third quarter from a quarter ago, preliminary data from Statistics Finland showed.

The statistics office trimmed the second quarter growth to 0.1% from 0.6%. The downward revision largely reflects the revisions in the value added of the electrical and electronics industry.