Euro Area Construction Falls, Swiss Sentiment Improves

Arthi Gupta
18 Apr, 2012
New York City

Euro area current account swung to deficit and production fell in February. Swedish central bank held rate and Swiss economic sentiment improved in April.

[R]12:30 PM Frankfurt – Euro area current account swung to deficit and production fell in February. Swedish central bank held rate and Swiss economic sentiment improved in April.[/R]

Euro-zone Current Account Swings to Deficit

The euro-zone current account swung to a seasonally adjusted deficit of €1.3 billion in February, from the €3.7 billion surplus in January, the European Central Bank said today.

The surplus in goods account fell to €1.5 billion in February from €3.3 billion in January. The surplus in services rose to €4.7 billion in February from €4.1 billion in January.

Euro Area Production Drops

Construction output in the euro area decreased a seasonally adjusted 7.1% on a monthly basis in February compared to the 0.5% growth in January, data released by statistics office Eurostat showed today. Output dropped for the third consecutive month.

In the EU, production eased to 3.7% in February from the 3.9% fall in January.

On an annual basis, construction output fell 12.9% in February, following the 2.7% decrease in January. In EU27, output dropped 9.4% from a year ago in February compared to the 1.1% fall in January.

Riksbank Holds Rate

Sweden''s central bank decided to retain its benchmark repo rate unchanged at 1.5% and the repo rate path was also left unchanged.

Swiss Sentiment Improves

Switzerland''s economic sentiment improved in April, data from a survey by the Center for European Economic Research and Credit Suisse showed.

The ZEW-CS economic expectations indicator improved to 2.1 points in April from the flat reading in March.