Tuesday 10 January 2012

German industrial production falls, bills sell at negative yield

There were mixed data from Germany on Monday.

Industrial production fell 0.6 percent in November.

However, exports rebounded by 2.5 percent in November after having fallen by 2.9 percent in October. With imports falling 0.4 percent in November, the trade surplus rose to 16.2 billion euros from 11.5 billion euros in October.

No doubt, Germany's ability to maintain a surplus is a key factor in establishing its status as a safe haven among investors. Monday saw Germany sell 3.9 billion euros of six-month treasury bills at an average yield of minus 0.0122 percent, the first time these securities have been sold at a negative yield.

The other major surplus economy, China, may have debt problems of its own but data on Sunday showed that new loans rose to 640.5 billion yuan in December from 562.2 billion yuan in November.

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