German economic outlook improves in October as major sentiment index ticks up

LONDON (ICIS)–The outlook for Germany’s economy improved in October, think tank ZEW said on Tuesday, as its economic sentiment indicator ticked up following three months of decline.

The research group’s October economic sentiment indicator increased by 9.5 points from September to reach 13.1 points.

However, its assessment of the current situation in Germany continued to worsen as the group’s index fell 2.4 points from September to -86.9 points in October.

“Starting from a very poor assessment of the current situation, the economic sentiment for Germany has risen in the latest survey,” said ZEW president Achim Wambach.

“Contributing factors include the expectation of stable inflation rates and the associated prospect of further interest rate cuts by the ECB. Positive signals are also coming from Germany’s export markets.”

For the eurozone, the group’s economic sentiment indicator rose by 10.8 points to 20.1 points in October, while the current situation index remained in negative territory at -40.8 points, down by 0.4 points from the previous month.