Summary: Euro-zone industrial production up 0.4% in April, less than expected; annual growth rate worsens, down 2.0%; German, French 10-year yields fall significantly; expands in all but one of euro-zone’s four largest economies.
Following a recession in 2009/2010 and the debt-crisis which flowed from it, euro-zone industrial production recovered and then reached a peak four years later in 2016. Growth rates then fluctuated for two years before beginning a steady and persistent slowdown from the start of 2018. That decline was transformed into a plunge in March and April of 2020 which then took over a year to claw back. Production in more-recent months has generally stagnated.
According to the latest figures released by Eurostat, euro-zone industrial production expanded by 0.4% in April on a seasonally-adjusted and calendar-adjusted basis. The rise was less than the 0.7% expansion which had been generally expected but it contrasted with March’s 1.4% fall after revisions. However, the calendar-adjusted growth rate on an annual basis worsened from March’s revised rate of -0.5% to -2.0%.
German and French sovereign bond yields fell significantly on the day. By the close of business, the German 10-year bund yield had shed 13bps to 1.64% while the French 10-year OAT yield finished 19bps lower at 2.21%.
Industrial production expanded in all but one of the euro-zone’s four largest economies. Germany’s production grew by 1.3% while the growth figures for France, Spain and Italy were -0.1%, 2.1% and 1.6% respectively.