German producer prices rise more than expected in July. ZEW Survey edges up. | CountingPips Forex Blog

August 19, 2008 - Forex Economic News

German producer prices rise more than expected in July. ZEW Survey edges up.

German inflation increased more than expected in June according to data released today by the German Federal Statistical Office. The German producer price index increased by 2.0 percent in July following a June ppi increase of 0.9 percent. The annual rate of producer inflation increased to 8.9 percent over July 2007, marking a 27 year highpoint. The ppi annual Euro Fx rate had registered a gain of 6.7 percent in June.

The monthly and annual increases surpassed market forecasts that were expecting a monthly rise of 0.7 percent and an annual rise of 7.5 percent in July. Energy prices once again contributed to the higher producer prices as energy rose by 5.1 percent in July.

Also out of Germany today, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment was released and showed that economic sentiment edged up in August from July by 8.4 points. August's rise registered a -55.5 index score following July's -63.9 score. The historical average for the index is a positive 28.3 score.

ZEW President Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Franz commented in the report, ""The financial market experts have for good reason not been impressed by the negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in the second quarter of 2008. Overall, they reckon with a weaker, but all in all robust economic development and rightly do not fear a recession". The ZEW report is based on the survey of approximately 350 financial experts who provide opinions on Germany's future economic expectations in 6 months.

tags: producer prices, inflation, consumer sentiment, ZEW

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