Germany records strong industrial production and trade growths, GDP likely rose 0.8 pct in Q4

German recorded strong industrial production growth in November, following the unusually weak figures for October. On a sequential basis, industrial production grew 3.4 percent, whereas on a year-on-year basis it rose 5.6 percent. The sequential gain was the biggest since September 2009. Manufacturing output rose at an impressive rate of 4.3 percent on a sequential basis.

Meanwhile, the three-month rate dropped slightly, but it continued to be close to 1 percent on a three month-on-three month for the fifth straight month. This implies that industrial output in Germany is on its path to contribute again to the GDP growth in the fourth quarter, noted Daiwa Capital Markets Research.

In the meantime, German trade figures also recorded positive news on industrial output. While import growth was solid, which saw a rise of 2.3 percent sequentially, the value of German exports was up 4.1 percent, the most since 2014. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus rose to EUR 22.3 billion, the highest level since April 2016.

“Overall, this morning's figures tally with recent economic sentiment surveys, including the Ifo, PMIs and Commission indicators, to suggest strongly that Germany was the principal source of euro area economic growth at the end of 2017, with GDP up by 0.8 percent Q/Q or more”, added Daiwa Capital Markets Research.

At 20:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Euro was slightly bearish -63.5764, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bullish at 66.322. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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