German July producer prices show slight pickup from the previous month

Destatis, German Federal Statistical Office, earlier on Friday published producer prices for July which showed that slight pickup in prices, but remained sharply below the previous year's levels. Data showed that German producer prices in July rose 0.2 percent on the month, compared to gains of 0.4 percent in May and June.

In annual terms, there was a decline of 2.0 percent compared with 2.2 percent previously and the lowest rate of decline since August 2014. Soft energy prices had, once again, the biggest effect on Germany's producer prices, Destatis said, noting that prices in this category were down 6.2 percent from July 2015.

Excluding energy prices, which can be volatile, producer prices in Europe's largest economy increased 0.2 percent on the month, but fell 0.5 percent on the year.

The euro showed little reaction to the data. The single currency remained little changed against its major rivals, with EUR/USD holding just below 1.1350 on continued dollar weakness, while German bunds opened marginally lower.