Eurozone Economic Confidence Reaches 21-Year High

Eurozone economic confidence reached a 21-year high in June, largely driven by the improvement in the services sector after the easing of lockdown restrictions, survey results from the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

The economic confidence index rose more-than-expected to 117.9 in June from 114.5 in the previous month. The expected level was 116.5.

The industrial confidence index increased for the seventh month in a row to a new all-time high of 12.7 in June from 11.5 a month ago. The reading was also above economists’ forecast of 12.3.

Managers’ very positive assessments of the current level of overall order books and the stocks of finished products underpinned the increase.

Services confidence posted its fifth straight month of improvement in June. At 17.9, the corresponding index hit the highest since August 2007, up from 11.3 in the previous month.

Likewise, the consumer sentiment indicator improved to -3.3 from -5.1 in May. The reading matched the flash estimate. This was the fifth consecutive increase in confidence.

Retail trade confidence rose for the fourth time in a row, reflecting managers’ improved assessment of the past business situation. The corresponding index advanced to 4.5 from 0.5 in May.

Driven by managers’ better appraisals of the level of order books, the construction sentiment index gained marginally to 5.1 from 4.9.

The further increase in the Employment Expectations Indicator rose by 1.6 points to 111.6 in June. The improvement was driven by more optimistic employment plans in industry and services, largely outweighing the slight dip in construction.

Selling price expectations logged the fourth month of marked and uniform increases across all surveyed business sectors.

Data showed that the business confidence index rose to 1.71 in June from 1.49 in May. The survey was conducted between June 1 and 21.

Source: Read Full Article