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Italy's Economy Sputters; French Production Unexpectedly Falls

By Sheyam Ghieth and Helene Fouquet

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Italy's economy expanded at the slowest pace in more than a year and French manufacturing unexpectedly declined, a sign that higher interest rates and the stronger euro are damping European growth.

Europe's fourth-biggest economy expanded 0.1 percent in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, when it grew 0.3 percent, and French industrial production fell 0.5 percent in June from May. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast faster Italian growth and a gain in French output.

``Today's data disappointed,'' said Luigi Speranza, an economist at BNP Paribas in London. ``Growth has peaked and several factors are causing the slowdown, including oil prices, higher interest rates and the strengthening of the euro.''

The currency's advance to a record against the dollar and the yen in July makes exports more expensive overseas at a time when a 41 percent increase in oil prices since mid January and rising interest rates are weighing on consumers and companies. Italy and France account for more than a third of the euro region's economy and had already been lagging behind the European average.

BNP lowered its forecast for second-quarter growth in the economy of the 13 nations that use the euro to 0.5 percent today from 0.6 percent.

``We're probably all worried by what's happening right now in the markets,'' said Olivier Gasnier, chief investment strategist at Societe Generale Asset Management in Paris. ``We can see that there will be some slowdown in activity.''

Bonds gained. The yield on Italy's 5.25 percent bond due 2017 declined 3 basis points, or 0.03 percentage points, to 4.62 percent. The yield on the benchmark French bond also fell 3 basis points, while Germany's 4.25 percent bond due 2017 shed 4 basis points to yield 4.35 percent.

Rising interest rates are already sapping confidence and raising production costs for manufacturers across the region. The European Central Bank has doubled its benchmark rate since the end of 2005 to a six-year high of 4 percent and ECB President Jean- Claude Trichet indicated last week that the bank would raise rates again as soon as September.

The euro has risen 17 percent against the dollar since the ECB started pushing rates higher and reached a record $1.3852 on July 24. Safilo Group SpA, the world's second-largest maker of eyeglass frames, cut its profit forecast July 31, partly blaming the slumping value of the dollar and yen against the euro.