European markets have become............>

FRANCE DATA: European markets have become accustomed to strong growth data

lately but this was not the case in France this morning.

- Francois Cabau at Barclays responded to the surprise 1.9% monthly decline in

French household goods consumption in October as "much weaker than our below

consensus forecast (Barclays: -0.7%, consensus: -0.1%). This more than cancelled

the previous month's 1.0% m/m rise (0.1pp upwardly revised). The picture was

negative across the board. In line with our expectations, consumption for both

engineered and energy products fell materially"

- Barclays believe that there are downside risks to their 0.5%Q/Q French GDP

call. But "With surveys at very healthy levels, likely continued employment

gains and the recent pick-up in wages, we do not look for any household

consumption weakness to persist"