PT Solid Gold Berjangka | German Business Sentiment Worsened for Fifth-Straight Month in September
Business sentiment in Germany weakened even further in September, the fifth consecutive month of decline, with the economic outlook remaining bleak in Europe’s largest economy, according to a survey of companies.
The Ifo business-climate index declined slightly to 85.7 in September from a revised 85.8 in August, data from the Ifo Institute showed Monday.
The reading, however, was better than expectations of a decline to 85.0 by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
“The German economy is treading water,” Clemens Fuest, president of Ifo, said.
The services sector worsened for the sixth consecutive month, due to a deterioration in current business, with sales weaker than previous months, the survey said.
Ifo’s indicator gauging current conditions tumbled to 88.7 from 89.0 in August.
But manufacturing sentiment improved a little, despite worsening expectations and order books shrinking further, Ifo said.
The overall indicator confirms that the German economy remains in the doldrums, and suggests it is on track to contract in the third quarter, after stagnation in the second, according to Franziska Palmas, a senior economist at Capital Economics.
The Ifo index is based on a poll of about 9,000 companies in manufacturing, services, trade and construction.
Source : Dow Jones Newswires