Germany: Business confidence declines but remains in optimistic terrain in July
Business confidence fell to 100.8 in July from June’s 101.7. However, the index remained north of the 100-threshold, indicating optimism among businesses.
The downtick reflected significantly less optimism regarding business expectations, likely due to the spread of more infectious Covid-19 variants that threaten a new lockdown, as well as supply-side issues hampering activity. Views regarding the current situation improved. Looking at sector-level data, sentiment worsened in the manufacturing, service, and trade sectors while confidence in the construction sector improved.