Friday, January 28, 2011

Eurozone confidence stalls unexpectedly

Financial Times
January 27, 2011

A closely watched survey of economic confidence in the eurozone unexpectedly stalled in January, weighed down by gloomy retailers and hesitant consumers.

The European Commission’s economic sentiment index fell 0.1 point to 106.5, its first dip since April 2009, excluding a break in the series last May.

But the indicator remains comfortably ahead of its long-term average of 100, helped by still-buoyant industrial and services sectors.

In a reverse of the recent trend for “core” eurozone economies to outperform struggling “peripheral” countries, there was an unexpected fall for Germany, from 117.3 to 115.6, partly cancelling out a recent rally in Europe’s biggest economy.

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