Eurozone Industrial Production Wanes in April to Test EUR Support

It was a relatively busy Eurozone economic calendar, with finalized member state inflation and Eurozone industrial production in focus.

The inflation figures had a muted impact on the EUR, placing a greater emphasis on today’s production numbers.

Eurozone Industrial Production Disappoints

In April, industrial production fell by 1.8% month-on-month versus a forecasted 2.0% slide. Production rose by a modest 0.5% in March.

According to Eurostat,

• Compared with February 2022, the production of capital goods fell by 2.7% and non-durable consumer goods by 2.3%.
• There were also declines in the production of intermediate goods (-2.0%) and energy (-1.7%).
• Durable consumer goods production bucked the trend, however, rising by 0.8%.
• By member state, Slovakia (-5.3%) and Germany (-5.0%) had the largest monthly declines in production.

Compared with March 2021,

• Industrial production across the Eurozone declined by 0.8% year-on-year.
• The production of energy slid by 4.0%, with capital goods and intermediate goods production down 2.7% and 0.1%, respectively.
• There were increases in the production of non-durable consumer goods (+2.8%) and durable consumer goods (+6.6%).
• By member state, Slovakia (-7.3%), Ireland (-5.5%), and Germany (-4.1%) had the largest decreases in production.

Market Impact

Ahead of today’s numbers, the EUR fell to a current-day low of $1.03733 before rising to a current-day high of $1.04196.

In response to today’s stats, the EUR rose to a post stat high of $1.04089 before falling to a post stat low of $1.03865.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.09% to $1.03892.

Next Up

US consumer sentiment figures will be in focus later today along with FOMC member chatter. FOMC member Kashkari is due to speak ahead of the European close.