Euro Area Producer Prices Climb, Hungarian Surplus Revised Up

Arthi Gupta
03 May, 2012
New York City

The euro area producer price index rose less than estimated in March. Hungarian trade surplus increased in February and Belgian economy expanded in the first quarter.

[R]12:30 PM Frankfurt – The euro area producer price index rose less than estimated in March. Hungarian trade surplus increased in February and Belgian economy expanded in the first quarter.[/R]

Euro-zone PPI Rises

Euro-zone''s producer price index increased declined to 0.5% on a monthly basis in March compared to the 0.6% gain in February, data from Eurostat showed today.

Producer prices for non-durable consumer goods increased 0.2% and for capital goods rose 0.1% in March.

On an annual basis, PPI rose 3.3% in March compared to the 3.6% gain in February.

In the wider region of EU27, the PPI rose 0.6% on a monthly basis and climbed 3.8% annually in March.

Romanian PPI Up

Romania''s producer prices for the industrial sector increased 5.8% from a year ago in March, the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics showed.

Intermediate goods prices rose 3.1% and durable goods rose 1.6%.

From a month ago, the overall PPI increased 1% in March following the 0.8% rise in February.

Hungarian Surplus Increases

Hungary''s trade surplus for February was revised up to €691.2 million from €690.1 million estimated earlier, final data released by the Hungarian Central Statistics Office showed. In January, the country had a trade surplus of €419 million.

For the January-February period, Hungarian trade surplus declined to €1.110 billion compared with €1.292 billion a year ago. Exports increased 0.5%, while imports grew 2.1%.

Swiss UBS Real Estate Bubble Index Climbs

Switzerland''s real estate bubble index rose for a third consecutive quarter in the first quarter, a report from the UBS Bank showed.

The UBS Real Estate Bubble Index was at 0.95 in the first quarter, up by 0.15 index points since the fourth quarter.

Belgian Economy Expands

Belgium''s gross domestic product rose 0.3% in the first quarter compared to a 0.1% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2011, preliminary estimates released by the National Bank of Belgium showed.

From a year ago, GDP increased 0.5% in the first three months of the year, following a 1.2% expansion in the previous quarter.