PARIS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - French producer prices fell sharply in October, providing further evidence of diving inflationary pressure which has prompted calls for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates next week.
Data from national statistics office INSEE on Friday showed France's producer price index slid 0.9 percent in October compared with a month earlier, more than double the 0.4 percent fall forecast in a Reuters poll of 17 analysts.
INSEE revised down September's producer price fall to 0.7 percent from 0.4 percent month-on-month. Compared with a year earlier, producer prices rose 4.3 percent in October.
Energy prices, which dropped 2.9 percent in a month, were the main driver behind October's fall. Oil prices have tumbled to just above $50 a barrel from July's record high of over $147.
Prices in the agri-food sector fell 0.6 percent compared with September, while semi-finished goods prices, the index's most heavily weighted component, fell 0.7 percent.
Consumer goods prices rose 0.3 percent in a month while auto industry and capital goods prices were flat month-on-month.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Wednesday the bank could cut rates next week as long as there was evidence that inflation pressures had eased.
A monthly European Commission survey showed on Thursday that euro zone economic sentiment hit 15-year lows in November and inflation expectations among companies and households fell heavily, boosting expectations of a bigger than half percentage-point rate cut by the ECB next week. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by David Stamp)