IP M/M Improvement Broadbased Although Y/Y Remains Weak

Eurozone industrial production rose in-line with expectations in February at 0.8% M/M (vs 0.8% M/M consensus) with the prior revised up slightly to -3.0% M/M prior from -3.2% M/M. The annual reading however, was weaker than expected, at -6.4% Y/Y (vs -5.5% Y/Y consensus, -6.6% Y/Y prior revised from -6.7% Y/Y).

• The February monthly rise is somewhat driven by Ireland, which saw production rise +3.8% M/M after a huge fall of 26.9% M/M in January - once again making it difficult to read a signal from the aggregate figures.
• Looking at the largest members of the Eurozone, results were mostly positive: With Germany (+1.1% M/M), Spain (+1.3% M/M), France (+0.2% M/M), Italy (+0.1% M/M), and the Netherlands (+0.8% M/M) all seeing production rise M/M. Whilst, Belgium (-2.7% M/M) saw its second consecutive monthly production decline.
• From a sectoral perspective, 3 of 5 sub-components rose. Specifically, the M/M rise was driven by a gain of +1.4% M/M in Durable consumer goods (vs -1.2% M/M prior), followed by a rise of of 1.2% M/M in Capital goods production (vs -15.5% M/M prior), and +0.5% M/M in Intermediate goods - the 2nd gain in Intermediate goods since September.
• Meanwhile, Energy production fell for the first time since September 2023 by 3.0% M/M, and Non-durable consumer goods fell for the 3rd consecutive month by 0.9% M/M.