Weak UK Factory Orders

Russian Industrial Production continued to shrink annually in December, dropping even deeper to -4.50% compared to previous months -3.50%, while missing expectations of -4.20%. The Russian Statistics Service reported this to be the sharpest decline in annual production since July of 2015, with Russia’s industrial production sliding now for almost an entire year. The monthly statistic for December printed at 7.00% growth, proving an optimistic upset after having declined to -0.20% in November. The Russian economy has been hit by the continued weakness in oil prices, sanctions imposed over the crisis in Ukraine and an extremely feeble currency. Recent preliminary data regarding the country’s growth by the Statistics Service reported a decline for the year ending 2015 at -3.70%: reflecting the shrinking of its economy. In the latest sessions, the Ruble continues to lose strength over the US dollar, reaching a high price of 78.0688 upon the report’s release.

The lowest level since almost a year ago on the Business Climate Index was reported by the German Ifo Institute for Economic Research, printing at 107.3 for the month of January. The data showed that newly pessimistic feelings within German firms made a difference to last month’s revised value of 108.6, especially in the manufacturing and construction sectors. The decline is a mirror image of the slides in the Purchasing Managers’ Index values reported by Markit last Friday. Businesses are concerned for the potential impact on them from the slowdown of the global economy and the recent plunge in Chinese markets, not to mention continuing declines in oil’s price. Further stimulus flagged by the European Central Bank President the previous week is expected to be installed as early as March, adding to concerns on where the economy of the Euro Area is headed.