OECD says euro zone economy accelerating, wider picture stable

PARIS (Reuters) - Economic growth is accelerating in the euro zone and in India but slowing in China, Russia and Brazil, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Thursday.

In a monthly update, the OECD said that within the euro zone, France and Italy were showing signs of better growth and that the outlook was also improving in Germany, the euro zone's largest economy.

The international think tank's leading indicator, a measure supposed to capture turning points in the economy, rose to 100.7 for the euro zone as a whole, from 100.6 a month earlier.

With 100.0 representing a long-term average, the OECD index rose to 100.7 from 100.5 in France, the second-largest euro zone economy, and increased to 101.0 from 100.8 in Italy, the third-largest. In Germany, it rose to 99.8 from 99.7.

India's prospects continued to improve, with an index that rose to 99.5 from 99.3 in the latest monthly report. But China's reading dipped to 98.4 from 98.5 and Russia's to 98.9 from 99.0.

The U.S. index dipped to 100.0 from 100.1. Japan's rose to 100.0 from 99.9.

(Reporting by Brian Love; Editing by Larry King)