Germany producer price rises cool in April

Producer prices in Germany saw their smallest year-on-year increase in more than two years in April, according to data released on Friday morning, adding to hopes of cooling eurozone inflation.

The country’s federal statistics office Destatis said producer prices of industrial products for the domestic market rose 4.1% year-on-year in April, making for the smallest rise since April 2021 when it was 5.2%.

It was, however, slightly higher than market expectations, with economists having pencilled in a consensus forecast for an annual uptick of 4%.

In March, the increase was 6.7%.

Additionally, the overall producer price index (PPI) rose 0.3% compared to the prior month, marking the first increase since September last year.

The primary factor behind the year-on-year increase was capital goods, which saw a rise of 6.8% compared to the same month in 2022.

Specifically, machinery became significantly more expensive, with an increase of 8.6% compared to April last year, and 0.6% compared to March this year.

Vehicles and parts also experienced a price increase of 5.6% year-on-year and 0.9% on the month.

Steel and light metal fabricated products saw an annual rise of 5.3%, and of 0.4% compared to the month prior.

James Harte, a market analyst at TickMill Group, described the data as an “encouraging sign” that inflation would continue to fall in the eurozone.

“Final eurozone CPI was left unchanged at 7% and 5.6% for headline and core respectively,” he said.

“While still above the European Central Bank’s target, CPI has been cooling steadily which is helping keep European stocks supported for now.”

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.