Eurozone GDP: France avoids recession as growth rebounds – business live

Key events 9m ago Bloomberg: France faces an electricity ‘Waterloo’ this winter 45m ago Introduction: France returns to growth on eurozone GDP day Filters BETA Key events ( 2 ) France ( 5 ) Europe ( 3 ) Shell ( 1 ) UK ( 1 ) Apple ( 1 ) 9m ago 02. 21 Bloomberg: France faces an electricity ‘Waterloo’ this winter Worryingly for France , Paris could be the first European city to suffer a blackout as temperatures drop toward the end of the year, rather than Berlin. So warns Bloomberg’s energy expert Javier Blas, who explains that France’s nuclear industry is struggling badly.

. css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} As winter approaches, the outlook in France is increasingly dire.

Electricite de France SA, the state-owned utility, is running only 26 of its 57 reactors, with more than half of its chain undergoing emergency maintenance after the discovery of cracked pipes. With atomic reactors generating the lowest share of the country’s power in 30 years, France faces an electricity ‘Waterloo. ’ The slump in nuclear availability is forcing France to rely more than ever on gas-fired plants, intermittent wind and hydro as well as imports.

That’s pushing up the cost of electricity in the wholesale market for the whole of Europe, with French forward prices surging to almost 1,000% more than their decade-long average through 2020. In the middle of the summer, when French electricity demand hovers around 45 gigawatts per hour, that’s not an insurmountable problem. But on a cold winter evening, when French households can push consumption above 80 or 90 gigawatts, it could be catastrophically expensive.

More here . The world is focusing on Germany during the European energy crisis. But France is even more vulnerable to blackouts this winter, argues @JavierBlas https://t.

co/Y3mOTzTuob via @opinion — Bloomberg (@business) July 29, 2022 27m ago 02. 04 The reopening of French hospitality businesses after last winter’s wave of Covid-19 also lifted growth, points out Gilles Moëc , AXA Group chief economist. But he also flags that consumer spending remained weak, as cost-of-living pressures hit households.

French GDP boosted by tourism in Q2. Post-reopening activity in hotels/transport contributed massively to the higher than expected 0. 5% print (that’s 2% for those who read their GDP the US way 😀).

Personal consumption down again though 1/3 — gilles Moec (@MoecGilles) July 29, 2022 That may be a pattern for the rest of Europe: countries with strong tourism industry/heavy on personal services could do well, maybe more difficult for Northern European countries 2/3 — gilles Moec (@MoecGilles) July 29, 2022 The fact that personal consumption is down again despite generous fiscal support is telling though. Stimulus has a hard time offsetting actual erosion in real income and/or loss of consumer confidence in a challenging environment. 3/3 — gilles Moec (@MoecGilles) July 29, 2022 31m ago 01.

59 France’s strong-than-expected return to growth puts it on a firmer footing as surging inflation and the risk of a Russian energy cuttoff threaten to tip Europe into a recession. So says Bloomberg: . css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.

5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} After a surprise contraction at the start of 2022, gross domestic product rose by 0. 5% in the three months through June, more than the 0. 2% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

But trade accounted for most of the surprise, with consumer spending falling for a second straight quarter. French economy grows more than anticipated, expanding 0. 5% (mostly on trade) https://t.

co/dtGX47dyfl via @whorobin pic. twitter. com/MLLFn2syFi — Zoe Schneeweiss (@ZSchneeweiss) July 29, 2022 37m ago 01.

53 Although France has avoided recession today , economist Charlotte de Montpellier of ING fears its economy will be in a downturn this winter (when Europe could face energy shortages). France escapes recession for the moment (Q2 GDP +0. 5% qoq after -0.

2%), thanks to tourism! But domestic demand remains weak and consumption continues to fall. A recession is our base case for this winter. https://t.

co/f5vozJijkC — Charlotte de Montpellier (@CdeMontpellier) July 29, 2022 40m ago 01. 50 Tourism helped France to return to growth in April-June too. Spending by foreign travellers in France rose by 8.

6% in the last quarter, after +5. 0% in Q1. 45m ago 01.

45 Introduction: France returns to growth on eurozone GDP day Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the world economy and the financial markets. Today we discover how the eurozone economy fared in the first full quarter since the Ukraine war drove up energy prices and disrupted supply chains, slowing global growth. And the breaking news is that France has avoided recession, by returning to growth in April-June as stronger exports helped offset weak domestic demand.

French GDP rose by 0. 5% in Q2, figures just released show, having shrunk by 0. 2% in January-March as rising inflation hit the eurozone’s second-largest economy.

That’s stronger than expected, and means France has avoided two quarters of falling growth in a row. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in France expanded 0. 50 percent in the second quarter of 2022 over the previous quarter.

https://t. co/YZQGQp1rmQ pic. twitter.

com/39Yuc9FjDt — Trading Economics (@tEconomics) July 29, 2022 France’s statistics body INSEE says “GDP in volume terms strongly recovered after the decline in the previous quarter”. Foreign trade lifted growth, with exports rising 0. 8% and imports falling by 0.

6%. But household consumption expenditure fell again, as French consumers were squeezed by rising prices. GDP rebounded in Q2 2022 (+0.

5%) https://t. co/ne4lYm0dj1 — INSEE (@InseeFr_News) July 29, 2022 We also get growth figures from across the eurozone through the morning, which are likely to show a generally weak quarter of economic activity, and continued high inflation. Michael Hewson of CMC Markets says: .

css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1. 5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;} On the broad EU basis Q2 GDP is expected to slow to 0. 2% from 0.

6% in Q1. In Germany we will be lucky to see any expansion at all and given the current geopolitical and economic backdrop this could be as good as it gets for a while. We also get a quick snapshot of flash CPI inflation for July after the numbers from Germany jumped higher to 8.

5% in numbers released yesterday. And with the US economy shrinking for two quarters in a row, the outlook for the world economy in the months ahead looks uncertain. US economy shrinks in second quarter, signaling unofficial start of recession Read more Also coming up today UK bank Natwest is reporting results, while staff at telecoms group BT are holding their first national strike in decades.

Energy groups Shell and Centrica are facing heavy criticism after reporting a surge in profits, and hefty payouts to shareholders yesterday: ‘An insult’: huge profits at Shell and Centrica cause outrage amid soaring energy bills Read more Overnight, tech giants Apple and Amazon have beaten Wall Street expectations. Amazon reported its second quarterly loss in a row on Thursday but the company’s also beat revenue expectations and gave an upbeat forecast for the remainder of the year; shares jumped over 10% in after-hours trading Apple reported higher-than-expected profit and sales as demand for iPhones held firm, despite the slowing US economy and rising inflation Amazon posts second quarterly loss in a row but shares rise on strong earnings Read more Apple surpasses expectations as tech companies struggle in slow economy Read more The agenda 6. 30am BST: French GDP report for Q2 8am BST: Spanish GDP report for Q2 8am BST: Austria GDP report for Q2 9am BST: German GDP report for Q2 9am BST: Italian GDP report for Q2 9,30am BST: UK mortgage approvals and consumer credit report 10am BST: Eurozone GDP report for Q2 10am BST: Eurozone inflation report for July 1.

30pm BST: US personal income and spending report Updated at 02. 11 EDT Topics Business Business live Economics Stock markets FTSE Eurozone France Germany Reuse this content.