BRUSSELS, Sept 12 (AFP) - Eurozone indicators to be released this week will provide the first glimmer of stabilisation in economic confidence in September following the retreat in oil prices from their mid-August peaks, economists said.
In Britain, data was expected to bring more evidence that the consumer side of the economy is faltering amid rising price pressures and a tight job market.
The expected in improvement in eurozone confidence will coincide with data showing a rise in industrial output in July, economists said.
The German ZEW economic expectations index on Tuesday will be the first economic sentiment survey to be released this month.
Economists said it was likely to edge higher or at least stabilise following the sharp decline seen in August.
"We expect a rise in the index following oil price-related declines," said Ed Teather of UBS.
The rise in the Franfurt stock market's DAX index through September and an approximate 10 percent fall in the oil price since the peak in August should have provided investors with some comfort, "which we expect to be reflected by a small increase in the ZEW," Royal Bank of Scotland economists said.
The ZEW index fell 3.1 points to a 13-month low of 45.3 in August, and the consensus among economists polled by AFX News, AFP's financial news service, is that it will firm marginally to 45.4 in September. Some economists expect a bigger rebound.
But BNP Paribas economists said doubts about global growth and weak eurozone labour market and consumer spending trends would continue to weigh on the ZEW, so a further small fall in the index was likely.
Meanwhile, industrial output was likely to show a solid rise in July in both France and Italy, following news that German output surged 1.6 percent in the same month.
These increases were expected to translate into a 0.5 percent month-on-month rise in output in the 12-state eurozone as a whole, wiping out the June decline of 0.4 percent.
German data suggest a rebound in eurozone production from the weakness recorded in June, said Teather.
Detailed figures for the eurozone harmonised index of consumer prices will confirm Eurostat's flash estimate that inflation remained at 2.3 percent in August, but they could also show core inflation moving higher, economists said.
But inflation will soon be on a downward course, providing that oil prices do not rise again, they said.
In Britain, raw material prices -- as measured by the producer price index -- are expected to have surged in August, driven by record oil prices and a weaker pound.
The figures will be an early warning of price pressures building up and may be one factor justifying another Bank of England rate hike this year.
Philip Shaw, economist at Investec said crude oil rose some four dollars to an average of 44 dollars a barrel in Aug, and taken together with the pound's slight fall would have left oil prices up some 11.8 percent in sterling terms following a 7.0 percent rise in July.
"Input prices will be dominated by oil," he said.
The median of analysts forecasts indicated a 1.2 percent rise from July for a 3.2 percent annual gain compared with rises of 0.6 percent and 3.0 percent respectively in June.
Some of the gains will be passed on to the consumer and were likely to take output prices to multi-year highs.
Consensus points to a 0.2 percent month-on-month and 2.5 percent year-on-year rise in output prices.
Even more relevant to the outlook for prices, the Bank of Englands's preferred measure of inflation - the CPI index, due out Wednesday -- was expected to rise 0.4 percent in August from the previous month, for a 1.4 percent year-on-year gain.
"August tends to see noticeable price recoveries following the summer sales, while inflation is likely to be further hit by the increased price of oil," said David Smith at Williams De Broe.
Wrapping up the week, the consumer side of the economy was widely predicted to show the effects of the Bank of England's five rate hikes since November by dropping for the second month in a row.
Analysts expect a 0.2 percent drop from the previous month for a 5.8 percent annual rise compared with a 0.4 percent drop and 6.4 percent rise respectively in July.
"Survey evidence for August points to another difficult month on the high street," RBoS economists said, citing dismal readings from polls of the sector conducted by the Confederation of British Industry and British Retail Consortium.
Moreover, the last British interest rate hike on August 5 and wet weather during the month would have taken their toll on British shoppers, they added.