Germany Recession

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin "in due course", holding out the prospect of resuming contact after a near-total breakdown in relations since the Ukraine war.

The euro dropped on Thursday as Europe's largest economy Germany was confirmed to be in a recession, while the dollar hit a two-month peak, benefitting from safe-haven demand as worries mounted about a US default.

Euro zone recession fears were exacerbated by concerns about an energy crisis in Europe and by Tuesday's data, which showed a sharp slowdown in business growth in June, following Monday's news of a seasonally adjusted May trade deficit in Germany versus expectations for a surplus.

Gains are likely to be capped after a week of data releases including a surprise drop in industrial output growth in China to a more than 17-year low, along with a fall in exports that sent Germany's economy into reverse in the second quarter.

Countries like Britain and Germany could breathe life into an academic theory intended to offer poorer, emerging economies some respite if they fall on hard times.

Falling output across the bloc, from France to Finland, meant the 17-nation economy shrank 0.2 per cent in the January to March period, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said.

The European Union predicted Friday that the economy of the 17 member countries that use the euro will shrink again in 2013 even though it will see its fortunes improve in the second half of the year.

Figures showed on Thursday that output in Germany, Europe's largest economy, contracted by more than anticipated in the last three months of 2012. And it was the German drop that lay behind a deepening of the recession across the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro. In 2012 as a whole, the eurozone economy shrank by 0.5 per...

China's vast manufacturing sector expanded in December but the euro zone is probably deeper in recession, business surveys suggested on Friday.

The euro zone fell into a recession in July-September, the second since the global financial crisis in 2009, as French resilience could not make up for a slump across Europe and the three-year debt crisis slowed Germany to a crawl. Economic output in the 17-country euro zone fell 0.1 percent in the third quarter, the EU's statistics office Eurostat...

Germany's leading economic think tanks warned on Thursday there was a "great danger" that Europe's top economy could fall into recession, as they slashed their growth forecasts for next year in half.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), published by Markit, showed the economic rot that began in smaller periphery members of the 17-nation bloc is now taking hold even in Germany, the region's largest and strongest economy.

The eurozone is grappling with sky-high debt levels and record unemployment of 11.2 per cent. Compared with the year before, the eurozone's economy is 0.4 per cent smaller. The region's economy would have slipped into recession had it not been for better-than-expected GDP figures from its two leading economies, Germany and France.

Within a space of an hour UBS of Switzerland, Deutsche Bank, BBVA of Spain and Austria's Erste Bank delivered the bad news.

Germany prevented the economy of the 17 countries that use the euro from falling into a recession in the first quarter of the year despite a raging debt crisis.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin "in due course", holding out the prospect of resuming contact after a near-total breakdown in relations since the Ukraine war.

The euro dropped on Thursday as Europe's largest economy Germany was confirmed to be in a recession, while the dollar hit a two-month peak, benefitting from safe-haven demand as worries mounted about a US default.

Euro zone recession fears were exacerbated by concerns about an energy crisis in Europe and by Tuesday's data, which showed a sharp slowdown in business growth in June, following Monday's news of a seasonally adjusted May trade deficit in Germany versus expectations for a surplus.

Gains are likely to be capped after a week of data releases including a surprise drop in industrial output growth in China to a more than 17-year low, along with a fall in exports that sent Germany's economy into reverse in the second quarter.

Countries like Britain and Germany could breathe life into an academic theory intended to offer poorer, emerging economies some respite if they fall on hard times.

Falling output across the bloc, from France to Finland, meant the 17-nation economy shrank 0.2 per cent in the January to March period, the EU's statistics office Eurostat said.

The European Union predicted Friday that the economy of the 17 member countries that use the euro will shrink again in 2013 even though it will see its fortunes improve in the second half of the year.

Figures showed on Thursday that output in Germany, Europe's largest economy, contracted by more than anticipated in the last three months of 2012. And it was the German drop that lay behind a deepening of the recession across the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro. In 2012 as a whole, the eurozone economy shrank by 0.5 per...

China's vast manufacturing sector expanded in December but the euro zone is probably deeper in recession, business surveys suggested on Friday.

The euro zone fell into a recession in July-September, the second since the global financial crisis in 2009, as French resilience could not make up for a slump across Europe and the three-year debt crisis slowed Germany to a crawl. Economic output in the 17-country euro zone fell 0.1 percent in the third quarter, the EU's statistics office Eurostat...

Germany's leading economic think tanks warned on Thursday there was a "great danger" that Europe's top economy could fall into recession, as they slashed their growth forecasts for next year in half.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), published by Markit, showed the economic rot that began in smaller periphery members of the 17-nation bloc is now taking hold even in Germany, the region's largest and strongest economy.

The eurozone is grappling with sky-high debt levels and record unemployment of 11.2 per cent. Compared with the year before, the eurozone's economy is 0.4 per cent smaller. The region's economy would have slipped into recession had it not been for better-than-expected GDP figures from its two leading economies, Germany and France.

Within a space of an hour UBS of Switzerland, Deutsche Bank, BBVA of Spain and Austria's Erste Bank delivered the bad news.

Germany prevented the economy of the 17 countries that use the euro from falling into a recession in the first quarter of the year despite a raging debt crisis.