- Maxime Sbaihi, an economist at Bloomberg Intelligence in London
Industrial production in France, the Euro area's second largest economy, kept its rising tendency in September month-on-month, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies reported. The French industrial production stepped up 0.1% on a monthly basis, compared with 1.7% posted in August. The figure was not in line with economists' projections of a 0.4% decline in September. Measured on an annual basis, industrial output advanced 1.8% in the ninth month of the year, completely matching analysts' expectations. In contrast to the French industrial production, the Italian one increased at a slower-than-expected pace in September, booking a gain just in one sector and reversing the prior month's decrease. Industrial output in Europe's third largest economy climbed up by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% month-on-month, compared to a drop of 0.5% from a month ago, the National Statistics Institute Istat stated. Analysts forecasted an increase of 0.6%. In yearly terms, industrial output in Italy rose 1.7% in September, beating economists' expectations of a 1.4% gain.
Meanwhile, in his speech, ECB governing council member and Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann expressed his concerns about monetary policy being too loose for a too long period of time.
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