The headline print plunged below the expected fall of 12pct after March’s revised -8.3pct reading, formerly the worst since 1992. Retail sales ex. autos fell 17.2pct to miss the estimate of an 8.5pct decline.

The control group – used for GDP calculation purposes and seen by analysts as a more reliable gauge of underlying consumer demand – came in more than three times under the forecast of -5.0pct, although the prior figure was revised three-tenths higher to 2.0pct. The data shows that the slowdown continued into the first part of the second quarter, as consumers went into lockdown and layoffs began to mount. (LiveSquawk – Conitnue Reading)

Germany has fallen into recession in a coronavirus-driven contraction likely to accelerate in the second quarter even as Europe’s largest economy slowly exits lockdown. Seasonally adjusted GDP dropped at a quarterly rate of 2.2pct in the first quarter, a decline in-line with market estimates. But the German statistics office lowered the country’s growth rate for the final quarter of 2019 to 0.1pct from 0.0pct, which put the economy in recession.

The first-quarter contraction was the largest in 11 years and the second worst since German reunification in 1999. Growth fell 4.7pct in the first quarter of 2009.  “Two weeks of lockdown as well as supply chain disruptions on the back of lockdown measures elsewhere brought the German economy to its knees,” said ING Chief German Economist Carsten Brzeski. (LiveSquawk - Continue Reading)

The Trump administration announced export restrictions on Friday designed to cut off Chinese telecom-equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. from overseas suppliers, threatening to ignite a new round of U.S.-China economic tensions.

The restrictions stop foreign semiconductor manufacturers whose operations use U.S. software and technology from shipping products to Huawei without first getting a license from U.S. officials, essentially giving the U.S. Commerce Department a veto over the kinds of technology that Huawei... (WSJ – Continue Reading)