020 7898 0500The key release in the eurozone yesterday was the German ZEW economic sentiment index for February. From 20.4 in January, it had been forecast to drop to 15.5 and, although the figure came in a little higher at 17.8, it is rather surprising that German investors appear to be a little gloomier. Having said this, confidence in the US, UK and eurozone also declined, with many citing the recent turbulence in the world’s stock markets.
Meanwhile, consumer confidence in the eurozone fell by 1.3 points to 0.1 in February which was somewhat lower than the 1 expected. However, it is worth noting that last month’s reading was the highest it had been for 17 years, so a drop isn’t all that bad in that context. The euro did slide against sterling and the dollar though in what might be a result of these disappointing figures, but it could pick back up today with several releases of note scheduled.
Today we will see Markit manufacturing, services and composite flash for February in Germany and the eurozone. It will be interesting to see what these figures come in at given yesterday’s decline in confidence.
