Italy: Business sentiment ticks up in February
The National Institute of Statistics (Istat)’s composite business confidence indicator (Clima di Fiducia delle Imprese Italiane, IESE)—which covers the manufacturing, construction, market services and retail sectors—rose to 99.8 in the second month of the year from January’s 99.2.
February’s result came on the back of an improvement in sentiment in both the manufacturing and retail trade sector more than offsetting some deterioration in sentiment in the constructions sector. Meanwhile, confidence in the market services sector remained unchanged from the previous month. The slight increase in confidence in the retail trade sector was due to better expectations on the future sales, while sentiment in the manufacturing sector strengthened somewhat on improved assessments on order books. On the other hand, confidence in the construction sector ticked down on weaker assessments of order books.