Euro Area Surplus Rises; Spanish Inflation Drops

Arthi Gupta
13 Jan, 2012
New York City

Euro area trade surplus increased and Hungarian industrial production expanded an unrevised 3.5% but Spanish leading index fell in November. Swiss National Bank estimated income of Sfr13 billion for fiscal 2011. Inflation in Spain slowed in December.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Euro area trade surplus increased and Hungarian industrial production expanded an unrevised 3.5% but Spanish leading index fell in November. Swiss National Bank estimated income of Sfr13 billion for fiscal 2011. Inflation in Spain slowed in December.[/R]

Euro-zone Surplus Rises

Euro-zone''s trade surplus increased to €6.9 billion in November from €1 billion in October, according to the latest statistics from Eurostat and compared to trade deficit of € 2.3 billion in November 2010.

Export of goods rose a seasonally adjusted 3.9% from a month ago in November, while the value of imports remained unchanged sequentially.

SNB Estimates Annual Profit

Swiss National Bank estimated net income of Sfr13 billion for the financial year 2011.

SNB recorded a valuation gain on its gold holdings of Sfr5 billion for the period and the foreign currency positions will contribute approximately Sfr8 billion.

Spanish Inflation Slows

Inflation in Spain eased to its lowest level in 13 months in December, data from the statistics office Ine showed.

Inflation measured by the consumer price index also eased to 2.4% in December from 2.9% in November.

On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in December, driven by the decrease in transportation costs.

Hungarian Inflation Drops, Output Rises Unrevised

Hungary''s consumer price inflation slowed to 4.1% in December from 4.3% in November according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 4.7% annually in December.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices climbed 0.2% in December, following the 0.7% growth in November.

Separately, the agency said Hungary''s industrial production increased an unrevised 3.5% from a year ago in November from the 3% growth in October.

From a month ago, output rose a seasonally adjusted 4.2% in November, from the 0.8% drop in October.

Dutch Factory Output Falls

Manufacturing production in the Netherlands decreased in November, data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics showed today.

The average daily production in the manufacturing sector decreased 1.2% from a year ago in November, reversing the 1.3% growth recorded in October. The decline in output was the first recorded in two years.

Spanish Leading Index Declines

Spain''s leading economic index decreased 1.1% to 104.4 in November from 105.6 in October, data from a survey by the Conference Board showed.

The coincident economic index, which measures the current situation, remained unchanged at 100.5 in November.