Positive fundamentals from Germany, Spain offset by French data

Germany posted some positive fundamentals at the end if the trading week, as the nation's industrial production rebounded in September following a decline in the preceding month, while trade surplus widened. Industrial output in the Euro zone's powerhouse rose 1.4%, following a revised 3.1% drop in August, according to Destatis. On an annual basis, industrial activity declined 0.1% in September, compared with a revised 1.9% drop in the previous month. Also, German exports surged sharply in September, rising 5.5%, and almost offsetting the 5.8% decline a month earlier, while imports soared 5.4%. This resulted in a widened trade surplus of 18.5 billion euros. The German economy shrank 0.2% in the three months through June and many economists have forecasted a third-quarter contraction when data come out this week, putting the economy into a technical recession. 

In the meantime, industrial production in the Euro zone's second biggest economy—France, recorded no progress in September, after falling 0.2% in the preceding month. However, business activity in the Spanish industrial sector unexpectedly rose, as the output jumped 1.0% year-on-year in September, following a revised 0.3% increase a month earlier and substantially above economists' expectations of 0.7% growth.