Talking Points:
- Hungarian retail sales increase 5.2% in November
- Industrial Production increases 5.8% in November while PPI decreases 0.4%
- USDHUF continues multi-year uptrend
Preliminary Hungarian retail sales and industrial production data indicate growth despite a fall in the producer price index.
The volume of retail sales grew year-over-year by 5.2%. The largest increases came from the following sub-components: automotive fuel retailing (8.5%), non-food retail trade (5.8) and food/drink and tobacco retailing (3.4%). When added into the year-to-date total retail sales have increased 5.1%.
Also registering an increase in November—industrial production. When compared to November of 2013 the index increased 5.8% (m/m) unadjusted and 3.3% when altered for seasonality and working day modifications. In the first eleven months this equates to an increase of 7.6%. It is however important to note that while industrial production increased in November, at 105.8 it still rests below the years average of 107.7.
In contrast November’s Industrial Producer Price Index decreased by 0.4%. As a consequence of changing domestic and export prices, combined sales decreased by 1.3% with a greater weight thrown to the domestic side. The greatest internal decreases came from the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (5.4%) and chemical and chemical products (2.7%). The greatest external decreases came from the same two components, but at the slower rates of 5.0% and 2.3% respectively.
In the same month the forint depreciated 1.4% against the US dollar. The pair is currently trading in a multi-year uptrend, well above support at 250.00.
USDHUF Weekly Chart
Chart Created by Walker England Using MarketScope2.0