Eurozone industrial production blew the doors off in July

Industrial production in the eurozone rose by 1.9% in the year to July, beating forecasts by some distance.

Production was 0.6% from June alone.

Analyst expectations suggested a 0.2% boost month-on-month, which would have left production up 0.6% year-on-year.

German industrial production got a boost in July, rising by 0.7% month-on-month, the fastest this year so far.

Europe's economy has been expanding at a modest pace during the past few months, rising by 0.5% and 0.4% overall during the first and second quarters of this year.