German Sentiment Improves; Hungarian Retail Sales Up

Arthi Gupta
25 Jan, 2012
New York City

German confidence rose for the third month in a row in January and Spanish producer price index slowed in December. Retail sales in Hungary improved but in Italy fell in November.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – German confidence rose for the third month in a row in January and Spanish producer price index slowed in December. Retail sales in Hungary improved but in Italy fell in November.[/R]

German Sentiment Improves

Germany''s business climate index rose to 108.3 in January from 107.3 in December, according to a monthly survey from the Ifo Institute.

The index for current conditions, meanwhile, dipped slightly to 116.3 from 116.7 in December.

Dutch Confidence Drops

The producer confidence index in the Netherlands dropped to -1.4 in January from -1.3 in December.

The sub-indicator that assesses firms'' opinion about their order books increased to -2.6 in January from -4.1 in December.

Spanish PPI Slows

Spain''s producer price index climbed 5.2% on an annual basis in December, slower than the 6.3% growth in November, data released by statistical office INE showed.

On a monthly basis, producer prices declined 0.1% in December, following the 0.2% rise in November.

Hungarian Retail Sales Up

Hungary''s retail sales volume increased a calendar-adjusted 1.1% on an annual basis in November compared to the 0.6% gain in October, data released by the Central Statistics Office showed.

Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco increased 1% from a year ago, while sales of non-food products advanced 3.7% in November.

From a month ago, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in November, after remaining flat in October.

Italian Retail Sales Slide

Italian retail sales fell 0.3% from a month ago in November, offsetting a 0.2% rise in October, data from the statistics office Istat showed.

On an annual basis, sales decreased 1.8% in November, following the 1.4% declined in October.

Finnish Retail Sales Eases

Finland''s retail sales, excluding automobiles, increased 4.3% from a year ago in December compared to the 5.3% growth recorded in November, preliminary data released by Statistics Finland showed on Wednesday.

In the whole of 2011, the value of retail sales advanced 5.3% from last year.