OECD says euro zone economy accelerating, wider picture stable

Friday, 10 April 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A man walks past a mannequin display at a clothes shop on La Bola street in downtown Ronda, near Malaga, southern Spain – REUTERS PARIS, (Reuters): Economic growth is accelerating in the euro zone and in India but slowing in China, Russia and Brazil, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Thursday. In a monthly update, the OECD said that within the euro zone, France and Italy were showing signs of better growth and that the outlook was also improving in Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy. The international think tank’s leading indicator, a measure supposed to capture turning points in the economy, rose to 100.7 for the euro zone as a whole, from 100.6 a month earlier. With 100.0 representing a long-term average, the OECD index rose to 100.7 from 100.5 in France, the second-largest euro zone economy, and increased to 101.0 from 100.8 in Italy, the third-largest. In Germany, it rose to 99.8 from 99.7. India’s prospects continued to improve, with an index that rose to 99.5 from 99.3 in the latest monthly report. But China’s reading dipped to 98.4 from 98.5 and Russia’s to 98.9 from 99.0. The US index dipped to 100.0 from 100.1. Japan’s rose to 100.0 from 99.9.

Greece to repay IMF, European stocks at seven-year high

Reuters: World stocks marched higher on Thursday, lifted by Greece’s confirming it will pay a 450 million-euro loan tranche to the International Monetary Fund and growing expectations the US will not raise interest rates until the latter part of the year. European markets also welcomed German industrial output and trade data, which showed the continent’s largest economy ticking along nicely in February. The Greek news and US interest rate outlook soothed global bond market sentiment, too. The benchmark euro zone bond yield on 10-Germany’s 10-year Bund fell to a record low of 0.146% DE10YT=TWEB. At midsession, Europe’s EuroFirst 300 index of leading shares was up 0.7% at a seven-year high of 1,623 points .FTEU3, putting the index on track for its ninth weekly gain in the last 10. Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 0.8% at 6,995 points and Germany’s DAX .GDAXI was 0.5% higher at 12,097 points. “While the risk of a Greek exit remains high, European equities continue to be supported by extremely low core euro area yields which remain at the bottom of recent ranges,” Barclays said in a note on Thursday. Figures on Thursday showed that German industrial production rose and imports and exports both grew faster than expected in February. Auto industry figures published late on Wednesday showed the sector’s recovery is broadening to France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.