Japanese outlook remains poor but other news mixed

The economic outlook for Japan remains poor. Its index of leading economic indicators stood at 30.0 for November, according to preliminary data issued by the Cabinet Office. This was the third straight month it was below the boom-bust line.

Things don't look much better in Germany. According to its Economy and Labour Ministry, industrial output fell by 1.7 percent in November, pulled down by declining activity in the key manufacturing, construction and energy sectors.

To offset that bad news, German investor confidence appears to have picked up. The ZEW economic research institute's economic expectations index rose by 12.5 points to plus 26.9 points in January, the sharpest rise since June 2003. ZEW president Wolfgang Franz, however, pointed out that the ZEW barometer remains below its historical average of plus 34.4 points.

In the corporate world, the technology sector has been in focus recently, with profit warnings from Advanced Micro Devices and ST Microelectronics being offset by better-than-expected profits from Intel in its fourth quarter.

In the meantime in consumer electronics, Creative Technology has raised its guidance for revenue growth for the three months ended in December. This is on strong sales of its MP3 players.

It looks like Apple's iPod is facing some stiff competition.