Netherlands: Business confidence jumps in November
Business confidence among manufacturers increased from 5.9 in October to 7.2 in November, moving further above the crucial zero-point mark that separates optimism from pessimism. The headline figure also came in significantly above the long-term average over the past 20 years of 0.9 and the index has remained in positive territory for over four years.
The improvement in sentiment reflected more optimism regarding business expectations and stocks of finished goods, while the outlook on order books improved as well. Positive sentiment has now prevailed in all sub-sectors for nearly two years.