Chile: Business confidence remains broadly stable in April
The business confidence index (IMCE, Indicador Mensual de Confianza Empresarial) published by ICARE and the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez ticked up marginally from 54.3 points in March to 54.4 points in April. As a result, the index remained comfortably above the crucial 50-point threshold that separates optimistic from pessimistic sentiment among business for the fourth consecutive month.
Driving the overall result forward was the commercial sector index of the commercial sector, which remained largely stable and has been above the 60-point mark ever since January. The industry sector also remained optimistic in April, with sentiment deteriorating only very marginally from the previous month. Meanwhile, sentiment in the mining sector showed the biggest improvement from the previous month, likely on the back of fading fears of a trade war between the U.S. and China, two key global consumers of copper—Chile’s main mining export. Lastly, sentiment in the construction sector bounced back into the negativepessimistic territory following the best result in several years recorded in March. As a result,Consequently, three out of four sectors were in positive territory in April.