OECD flags signs of broader upturn in economic outlook

A shop sells garments for one euro in downtown Lisbon, January 26, 2012.

PARIS (Reuters) - The international economic outlook is showing tentative signs of improvement, with the momentum shift spreading from the United States and Japan to other developed countries, the OECD's December survey of growth prospects showed on Monday.

The survey picture was mixed in the euro zone, where seven countries were now "pointing towards a positive change in momentum" while the region's overall reading dipped marginally.

The OECD said its leading indicator pointed to a "positive change ... for the OECD area as a whole, driven primarily by the United States and Japan, but similar signs are beginning to emerge in a number of other developed economies."

The reading, which seeks to flag turning points, improved for the OECD group of industrialized economies as a whole, rising 0.2 points in December to 100.4, versus its long-term average of 100.

India and Russia showed evidence of improvement while encouraging signs that appeared a month or two previously in Japan and the United States were confirmed, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.

The U.S. reading rose for a third month running, this time by 0.7 points to 102.0, while the Japan reading, which stopped dropping three months earlier, rose 0.2 points to 101.9 in December.

India's reading rose 0.6 points even if, at 95.6 in December, it was still well below its long-term average. Russia's reading rose 0.2 to 102.4.

The readings for China, Brazil and the euro area continued to drop, however, with China down 0.5 points at 99.3, Brazil down 0.1 at 93.7 and the euro zone down 0.1 as well at 98.3.

(Reporting by Brian Love; Editing by John Stonestreet)