Germany’s Weakness Signal Hard Times Ahead for Europe

This week’s disappointing German manufacturing data are the latest sign the “strongman” of Europe is weakening, in what could mark a worrying turn for the rest of Europe.
Tuesday’s industrial output numbers for Germany missed forecasts, with production slowing by 4 percent month-on-month in August. German factory orders, out on Monday, also showed a steep—and unexpected—decline.
“The data from Germany is persistently dreadful,” said Societe Generale’s Kit Juckes in a note on Wednesday.

The warning comes after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut Germany’s growth outlook for this year and next on Tuesday. It now sees the economy growing by 1.4 percent in 2014 and 1.5 percent in 2015. This is better than the euro zone average, but below peers like the U.K., where the economy is expected to expand by 3.2 percent this year and 2.7 percent next.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza