Germany: Business confidence inches up in November

The business confidence index, elaborated by the Ifo Institute, inched up from 103.2 in October to 104.7 in November. November’s reading overshot the 103.0 that markets had expected.

According to the Institute, November’s result reflected that firms were more optimistic regarding their current situations and future business developments. In the manufacturing sector, business confidence improved after six consecutive months of decline. Retail sector firms were also less pessimistic regarding their outlook. Finally, construction sector firms were also more optimistic, though the Institute did point out that, “the marked improvement in business expectations is typical for this time of the year.”

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect gross fixed investment to expand 3.4% in 2014, which is down 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. In 2015, the panel sees investment growth decelerating to 2.9%, which is down 0.3 percentage points from the previous month’s projection.