Swiss industrial production declines in Q2 from a year earlier period, likely to improve further

Swiss industrial production declined during the second quarter, compared to a year earlier period, with expectations of a likely rise in the near future. The data was generally downbeat, but improvement for June will increase hopes that the underlying trend will improve for the third quarter.

Swiss industrial production declined 1.2 percent in the year to the second quarter, reversing the 1.2 percent gain seen for the first quarter. There was also a year-on-year decline of 2.3 percent in sales from a 1.7 percent decline seen for the first quarter.

New orders declined by 5.6 percent over the year from 2.3 percent previously, although there was an increase in orders in hand of 2.3 percent from a 1.6 percent decline previously. The construction sector also remained weak with a 4.1 percent decline in turnover for the year with notable weakness in civil engineering, while the decline in building was held to 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the National Bank is expected to remain very sensitive to competitive issues given gaining momentum in franc, but the latest export data registered a recovery for July, which should offer some degree of support.