Economic Sentiment for Germany Up for the Second Straight Month

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany has increased by 6.7 points in October 2012 to -11.5 points. This is the second consecutive increase of the indicator, and it compares to a consensus estimate of -15 points.

According to the press release:

The indicator’s rise shows that risks for the German economy have somewhat diminished according to the financial market experts. This could well be explained by the decreasing uncertainty on the financial markets during the last weeks. Slightly more experts still expect the German economy to cool down instead of brightening up.

Nevertheless, the share of experts holding such a pessimistic view has once again declined compared to the previous month. Furthermore, almost half of the experts (45.5 percent) forecast that the economic situation six months ahead will be more or less the same as today.

The assessment of the current economic situation for Germany has weakened, compared to the previous month. The respective indicator fell 2.6 points in October to stand at 10.0 points.

Economic expectations for the eurozone remained relatively flat in October. The corresponding Zew indicator increased by 2.4 points to -1.4 points. The indicator for the current economic situation in the eurozone is also relatively flat, as it now stands at -79.4 points after dropping 3.1 points.