Denmark: Business sentiment remains mired in pessimistic territory in March
According to a survey conducted by Statistics Denmark, business confidence among firms in the industrial sector inched up to minus 5 points in March from minus 6 points in February, remaining below the critical zero-point threshold that separates optimism from pessimism in the sector.
The marginal improvement in March was a result of firms’ more upbeat expectations of production, while inventory stocks of finished goods were marginally lower in the month. On the other hand, businesses were less optimistic about new business inflows.
Turning to the other sectors of the economy, the construction sector also remained entrenched in pessimistic territory (March: -2 points; February: -3 points), due to their negative outlook for order books. Meanwhile confidence among retailers fell marginally in March (March: +11 points, February: +12 points) as firms were less optimistic about future revenue. On the flipside, confidence improved in the services sector (March: +7 points; February: +4 points), thanks to businesses’ more upbeat assessment of current and future revenue.