Eurozone industrial output in big July fall

Official figures show that industrial production across the 19-country eurozone fell by a hefty 1.1 percent in July, a development that could seriously weigh on the region's third-quarter growth.

The decline reported Wednesday by Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency, more than offset the previous month's 0.8-percent gain. Still the decline was more or less in line with market expectations so the news had little impact in markets.

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, was the chief reason behind the fall as it recorded a 1.9-percent monthly decline.

Stephen Brown, European economist at Capital Economics, said the figures "clearly don't bode well" for eurozone economic growth in the third-quarter and will further pressure policymakers at the European Central Bank to enact a further stimulus in the months to come.