The European view is from a major trading desk morning comment, where the author cannot be cited:
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European markets have come off their best levels this morning and are currently percolating just below the “unch” mark: DAX -0.2%; CAC -0.2%; FTSE -0.1%.
The miners are taking a breather after nice gains yesterday (Lonmin -1%; Xstrata -1.6%; Vedanta Resources -3.2%). Tech and financials are weak (although the weakness in the financials is more pronounced in London and Paris than in Switzerland or Frankfurt), while energy and industrials are weaker. My guess would be that European markets are a tad more rattled by Ben Bernanke’s comments than were the Asian markets. (Bloomberg)
• Finnish industrial production fell -0.3% m/m in August after July’s -2.9% m/m decline; the year-on-year figure improved to -21.2% from July’s -24% decline. (Bloomberg)
• The Finnish Eur146 million trade surplus swung to a –Eur75 million deficit in August. (Bloomberg)
• German exports fell -1.8% m/m in August while imports rose 1.1% m/m, causing its trade surplus to narrow to Eur8.1 billion from July’s Eur14.1 billion. The current account surplus also narrowed sharply to Eur4.6 billion from July’s Eur11.4 billion. (Bloomberg)
• French industrial production jumped by 1.8% m/m in August, raising the year-on-year decline up to -10.8% from July’s -12.4% decline. (Bloomberg)
• French manufacturing industrial production expanded by 1.9% m/m in August, improving the year-on-year rate to -11.5% y/y from July’s -13.3% decline. (Bloomberg)
• Slovakian real industrial sales improved markedly in August to -12.6% y/y from July’s -23.4% decline. (Bloomberg)
• Slovakian real wages increased by 0.9% y/y in August, up from July’s -0.8% decline. (Bloomberg)
• Slovenian industrial production expanded by 4.9% m/m in August, dragging the year-on-year figure up to -18.4% from July’s -20.4%. (Bloomberg)
• The Danish trade surplus (ex-ships) narrowed to Dkk4.6 billion ($910 million) in August from July’s Dkk6 billion ($1.19 billion) surplus, and the current account surplus also narrowed to Dkk5 billion ($990 million) from July’s Dkk6.3 billion ($1.25 billion). (Bloomberg)
• Italian industrial production expanded by 7% m/m in August, leaving the work day-adjusted year-over-year decline little changed at -18.3% from July’s -17.9% decline. (Bloomberg)
• Norwegian CPI increased by 0.8% m/m in September, while the year-on-year figure dropped to 1.2% from August’s 1.9% pace. (Bloomberg)
• Norwegian PPI fell -6% m/m in September and the year-on-year figure fell to -6.7% from August’s -1.2%. (Bloomberg)
• Bulgarian industrial production fell -7.8% m/m in August, while the year-on-year rate improved to -15.9% from July’s -18.7% decline. (Bloomberg)
• Bulgarian industrial sales fell -6.1% m/m in August, leaving the year-on-year figure of -23.3% little changed from July’s -23.8% decline. (Bloomberg)
• Bulgarian retail trade fell -0.6% m/m in August while the year-on-year figure was little changed at -9.5% (versus July’s -9.2%). (Bloomberg)
• Greek industrial production fell -8.8% y/y in August, better than July’s -9.2% y/y decline. (Bloomberg)
• U.K. input PPI fell -0.5% m/m in September while the year-on-year rate of decline was less severe at -6.5% versus August’s -7.7% decline. Output PPI rose 0.5% m/m, dragging the year-on-year figure up to 0.4% from August’s -0.3% decline. (Bloomberg)
• The U.K. trade deficit narrowed slightly in August to –Gbp6.24 billion from July’s –Gbp6.43 billion. (Bloomberg)
• Irish industrial production fell -16.7% m/m in August after July’s 7.8% m/m expansion, while the year-on-year rate plummeted to -13.7% y/y from July’s 6.2% y/y expansion. (Bloomberg)
• Irish new vehicle licenses increased by 3,563 licenses in September, down from August’s 3,873 new licenses and July’s 6,009 new licenses (there appears to be some seasonality in this data point, but licenses are still down -47.9% y/y). (Bloomberg)
