German Inflation Rises, French Confidence Improves

Arthi Gupta
29 Aug, 2012
New York City

German consumer price inflation rose more-than-anticipated, French business confidence and Swiss leading indicator gained in August. Italian retail sales rose in June. Danish economy shrunk more than estimated in the second quarter.

[R]2:30 PM Frankfurt – German consumer price inflation rose more-than-anticipated, French business confidence and Swiss leading indicator gained in August. Italian retail sales rose in June. Danish economy shrunk more than estimated in the second quarter.[/R]

German CPI Advances

German consumer price inflation rose more-than-anticipated in August, according to preliminary data released by the German Federal Statistics Bureau today.

Consumer price inflation rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in August following a 0.4% increase in July.

From a year ago, consumer price inflation increased 2%, following a 1.7% rise in July.

French Confidence Improves

French business confidence in manufacturing gained in August, the national statistics office Insee said today.

Business confidence in manufacturing rose to 90 in August from a revised down reading of 89 in July, Insee said.

The wider business confidence index remained unchanged at 87 in August from July.

Italian Retail Sales Rise

Italian retail sales rose 0.4% on a monthly basis in June, official data showed today,

Sales of food items climbed 0.2%, while non-food sales increased 0.4% in June. Annually, retail sales declined 0.5%

Separately, Italian consumer confidence declined in August.

The confidence index dropped to 86 in August from 86.5 in July, the national statistics office, Istat, said today.

Swiss Leading Indicator Climbs

Swiss KOF leading indicator rose to 1.57 in August, following a revised 1.41 reading in July, according to data released by KOF. This is the seventh straight month of rise.

Danish Economy Contracts

Denmark''s economy shrunk more than estimated in the second quarter, the Danish statistics office said.

The gross domestic product contracted 0.5% in the second quarter from the previous quarter, and 0.9% on the year in the second quarter.

Swedish Sentiment Drops

Swedish consumer confidence fell in August, according to a report released today.

The consumer confidence indicator declined to 5.4 in August from 5.6 recorded in July, the National Institute of Economic Research said.

Greek PPI Increases

Greek producer price index rose to 3.8% in July annually from 2.9% in June, according to a report released by ELSTAT today.