European Equities: Economic Data from China and the U.S to Influence

In This Article:

Economic Calendar:

Tuesday, 15th March

French HICP (MoM) (Feb) Final

Italian CPI (MoM) (Feb) Final

German ZEW Current Conditions (Mar)

German ZEW Economic Sentiment (Mar)

Eurozone ZEW Economic Sentiment (Mar)

Wednesday, 16th March

Eurozone Core CPI (YoY) (Feb) Final

Eurozone CPI (MoM) (Feb) Final

Eurozone CPI (YoY) (Feb) Final

Thursday, 17th March

Eurozone Wages in euro zone (YoY) (Q4)

Eurozone Trade Balance (Jan)

ECB LTRO

Friday, 18th March

German PPI (MoM) (Feb)

The Majors

It was a mixed end to the week for the European majors on Friday, with a jump in yields pulling the majors into the red.

The CAC40 rose by 0.21% to make it five in a row, while the DAX30 and the EuroStoxx600 ending the day down by 0.46% and by 0.26% respectively.

Economic data from the Eurozone and the U.S failed to support the majors in spite of better-than-expected numbers.

A pickup in U.S Treasury yields through the European session pinned the majors back at the end of the week.

The Stats

It was a relatively quiet day on the economic calendar on Friday. Key stats included inflation figures from Germany and Spain and Eurozone industrial production numbers.

Inflation

In February, German consumer prices rose by 0.7%, which was in line with prelim figures. Consumer prices had risen by 0.8% in the month of January.

The annual rate of inflation picked up from 1.0% to 1.3%, which was also in line with prelim figures.

According to Destatis,

  • Prices of goods (total) were up 1.0%, year-on-year.

  • Energy prices rose by 0.3% after having fallen by 2.3% in January.

  • Rising crude oil prices and a CO2 charge introduced in January contributed to the uptick. Motor fuel prices rose by 2.4%.

  • Food prices increased by 1.4%, slowing from a 2.2% rise in January.

  • Excluding energy, the rate of inflation would have been 1.4%.

For Spain, inflation figures were also in line with prelim. Inflation stalled in February, with the harmonized index for consumer prices falling by 0.1%, year-on-year.

Industrial Production

Industrial production across the Eurozone rose by 0.8% in January, reversing an upwardly revised 0.1% decline from December.
According to Eurostat,

  • Production of durable consumer goods rose by 0.8% and non-durable consumer goods by 0.6%.

  • Energy and capital goods production increased both increased by 0.4%, with the production of intermediate goods rising by 0.3%.

  • By member state, Luxembourg (+3.8%), Greece and France (+3.4%) and Belgium (+3.1%) recorded the largest increases.

  • Estonia and Latvia (both -1.5%), Portugal (-1.3%), and Spain (-0.7%) registered the largest declines.

  • Compared with January 2020, industrial production increased by 0.1%.