ECB Deposits at Record High; Euro Area Private Sector Contracts

Arthi Gupta
05 Mar, 2012
New York City

Bank deposits at the European Central Bank surged to a record high. Euro area private sector contracted and the French and Italian service sector activity declined in February. Retail sales in the euro area rose unexpectedly in January.

[R]1:30 PM Frankfurt – Bank deposits at the European Central Bank surged to a record high. Euro area private sector contracted and the French and Italian service sector activity declined in February. Retail sales in the euro area rose unexpectedly in January.[/R]

Record Bank Deposits at ECB

Overnight deposits of banks at the European Central Bank were at a record high, the central bank data showed today.

Banks'' deposited a record €820.8 billion at the ECB compared to the €776.9 billion deposited on Thursday, the central bank said.

The central bank on February 29 provided a record €529.53 billion in three-year loans to banks.

Euro-zone Private Sector Shrinks

The euro-zone private sector contracted in February, survey results from Markit Economics showed.

The final Composite Output Index fell to 49.3 in February, below the earlier flash estimate of 49.7 from 50.4 in January.

Separately, euro-zone investor confidence index improved to -8.2 in March compared to -11.1 in February, results of a survey by the think tank Sentix showed.

German Private Sector Growth Eases

German private sector growth eased in February, a final report from Markit Economics showed.

The final composite output index, that measures the performance of both manufacturing and service sectors, fell to 53.2 in February from 53.9 in January.

French Service Sector Growth Drops

The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers'' index for the French service sector dropped to 50 in February from 52.3 in January, final data released by Markit Economics showed today.

Italian Service Sector Activity Declines

Italy''s service sector contracted in February, according to data released by Markit Economics today.

The seasonally adjusted Markit/ADACI Purchasing Managers'' Index declined to 44.1 in February from 44.8 in January, the ninth consecutive monthly decrease in activity.

Spanish Service Sector Slumps

Spanish service sector slumped in February, a survey by Markit Economics showed.

The headline seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index slid to 41.9 in February from 46.1 recorded in January.

Euro-zone Retail Sales Rise

Euro-zone retail sales grew 0.3% from a month ago in January, following a 0.5% fall in December, data from Eurostat showed today.

Sales of food product rose 0.6% in January following the 0.8% drop in December. Non-food sales grew 0.5% in January after easing 0.4% in December.

On a yearly basis, retail sales remained flat in January compared to the 1.3% fall in December.

In the EU27, retail sales climbed 0.4% in January compared to a monthly drop of 0.2% in December.

Swiss Retail Sales Up

Swiss retail sales rose 4.4% from a year ago in January following a 1.7% gain in December, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed.

Retail sales of food, tobacco advanced 1.9% and non food sector rose 5.3% annually in January.

From a month ago, retail sales increased a seasonally adjusted 1.6% in January following a 2% drop in December.

Italian PPI Slows

Italy''s producer prices increase slowed to 3.3% from a year ago in January compared to the 3.7% gain in December, data from statistics office ISTAT showed.

From a month ago, producer prices increased 0.7% in January, after remaining flat in December.