• Says we don't want any protectionist measures, Ireland and Germany are champions of free trade

Sales were up in four of seven subsectors, accounting for 66% of total wholesale sales.

Increases in the food, beverage and tobacco and the machinery, equipment and supplies subsectors were almost completely offset by declines in the building material and supplies and the motor vehicle and parts subsectors.

In volume terms, wholesale sales increased 0.5%.

The food, beverage and tobacco subsector rose 3.1% to $12.3 billion in January, following a 1.8% decline in December. This was the largest monthly dollar increase since May 2016. Sales were up in two of three industries, led by the food industry (+3.6%).

• Sees unemployment rate falling to 11 pct in 2020

• 0.7 pct q/q growth in the first quarter

• Improved forecasts supported by a moderation in political uncertainties surrounding Catalonia

• Says strong euro is also hampering economic outlook for Germany

• Outlook for German economy is still largely positive despite risks

The index has fallen by 12.7 points compared to the previous month, now standing at 5.1 points (long-term average: 23.6 points). The percentage of experts anticipating a decline over the coming six months has risen by 7.2 per cent to 12.9 per cent.

"Concerns over a US-led global trade conflict have made the experts more cautious in their prognoses. The strong euro is also hampering the economic outlook for Germany, a nation reliant on exports. Combined with the experts' continued positive assessment of the current situation, however, the outlook is still largely positive," comments ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.

The headline rate of inflation for goods leaving the factory gate (output prices) was 2.6% on the year to February 2018, down from 2.8% in January 2018.

Prices for materials and fuels (input prices) rose 3.4% on the year to February 2018, down from 4.5% in January 2018.

All industries provided upward contributions to output annual inflation; the largest contribution was made by food products.

Crude oil continued to provide the largest upward contribution to the input annual inflation, despite providing the largest downward contribution on the month.

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) 12-month inflation rate was 2.5% in February 2018, down from 2.7% in January 2018.

The largest downward contributions to the change in the rate came from transport and food prices, which rose by less than a year ago.

Falling prices for accommodation services also had a downward effect.

Rising prices for footwear produced the largest, partially offsetting, upward contribution.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month rate was 2.7% in February 2018, down from 3.0% in January 2018.

EUR/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.2505 (3394)

$1.2473 (2006)

$1.2446 (844)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.2349

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.2271 (4124)

$1.2230 (3661)

$1.2187 (4014)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options and PUT options with the expiration date April, 6 is 97944 contracts (according to data from March, 19) with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,2150 (5485);

GBP/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.4238 (2482)

$1.4170 (2572)

$1.4126 (307)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.4054

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.3937 (1340)

$1.3902 (1129)

$1.3864 (3495)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options with the expiration date April, 6 is 31182 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,4200 (2721);

- Overall open interest on the PUT options with the expiration date April, 6 is 30353 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,3800 (3602);

- The ratio of PUT/CALL was 0.97 versus 0.96 from the previous trading day according to data from March,19

* - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange bulletin (CME) is used for the calculation.

** - Open interest takes into account the total number of option contracts that are open at the moment.

Changes to residential property price index:

• The price index for residential properties for the weighted average of the eight capital cities rose 1.0% in the December quarter 2017. The index rose 5.0% through the year to the December quarter 2017.

• The capital city residential property price indexes rose in Melbourne (+2.6%), Perth (+1.1%), Brisbane (+0.9%), Hobart (+3.9%), Canberra (+1.7%) and Adelaide (+0.6%) and fell in Sydney (-0.1%) and Darwin (-1.5%).

• Annually, residential property prices rose in Hobart (+13.1%), Melbourne (+10.2%), Canberra (+5.7%), Sydney (+3.8%), Adelaide (+3.6%) and Brisbane (+2.1%) and fell in Darwin (-6.3%) and Perth (-1.7%).

Total value of the dwelling stock:

• The total value of residential dwellings in Australia was $6,869,006.7m at the end of the December quarter 2017, rising $92,858.9m over the quarter.

• The mean price of residential dwellings rose $6,500 to $686,700 and the number of residential dwellings rose by 40,400 to 10,003,100 in the December quarter 2017.

Economic forecasts by the Federal Government's Expert Group - spring 2018:

The Federal Government's Expert Group expects the economy to continue its dynamic recovery and anticipates strong GDP growth of 2.4% in 2018. The buoyant international economy is supporting foreign trade, while a favourable investment climate is stimulating domestic demand. Amid a gradual slowdown in the global economy, GDP growth is expected to moderate to a solid 2.0% in 2019. The promising upturn is to be accompanied by a further noticeable brightening on the labour market and a moderate rise in inflation.

In February 2018 the index of producer prices for industrial products rose by 1.8 compared with the corresponding month of the preceding year. In January the annual rate of change all over had been 2.1%, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Compared with the preceding month January the overall index fell slightly by 0.1% in February 2018 (+0.5% in January 2018 and 0.2% in December 2017).

In February 2018 the price indices of all main industrial groups increased compared with February 2017: Prices of intermediate rose goods by 2.8%. Energy prices were up 1.8%, though the development of prices of the different energy carriers diverged. Prices of electricity increased by 4.3%, whereas prices of natural gas (distribution) decreased by 0.1% and prices of petroleum products by 0.2%. Prices of non-durable consumer goods and of durable consumer goods rose by 1.4% each, whereas prices of capital goods increased by 1.1%.

• CPI inflation expected to rise to a little above 2 pct this year

• GDP growth expected to exceed potential growth in 2018

• A$TWI still within range of past couple of years

• Strong employment had not yet led to a "definitive pick-up" in wages growth

• Repeats rising A$ would slow pick up in economic growth, inflation

• Housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne had slowed, stable elsewhere