- Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING
Output at Eurozone factories rose unexpectedly last month, as demand for food and cars was strong, the European statistics office, Eurostat, said on Friday. Eurozone industrial output rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.6 per cent in August from July, beating expectations of a 0.4 per cent fall. At the same time production of durable goods soared 4 per cent, while non-durable goods output jumped 1.3 per cent.
"We would not exclude the possibility of a sharp reversal in September," said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING in Amsterdam. "With the global economy slowing and the fiscal squeeze in the euro zone continuing, any upturn in euro-zone industrial activity will likely be modest."
"A key issue is whether the global economy is just hitting another bout of turbulence in what was always expected to be a slow and bumpy recovery or whether the current slowdown has a more lasting component," the IMF said.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index erased 0.52 per cent to 269.43. Germany's DAX Index inched lower 0.68 per cent to 7,232.49 and France's CAC 40 Index fell 0.72 per cent to 3,389.08.
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