German Economic Sentiment Hits 8-Month Low

        By Nina Adam
        German economic sentiment deteriorated further in July, despite the prospect of fresh bailout loans for Greece, a sign that the economic upswing in Europe's largest economy is losing some momentum.
        The ZEW think tank said Tuesday its indicator of economic expectations dropped for the fourth month, to a reading of 29.7 from 31.5 in June, the lowest level since November 2014, when the indicator stood at 11.5.
        Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a decline to 28.0.
        "The overall economic outlook for Germany remains positive," despite ongoing concerns about the Greek debt crisis and turmoil on China's financial markets, said ZEW President Clemens Fuest.
        Monday's deal between the government in Athens and its eurozone lenders, which could unlock further badly-needed bailout loans if Greece pushes through more austerity measures, was only partly reflected in the survey, as only 36 of a total of 223 responses were received on Monday, according to ZEW.
        "It seems as if German investors have taken the stance that the Greek crisis or even a 'Grexit' would not harm the German economy and therefore rather focused on the positive impact from the still-weak euro-exchange rate and the latest drop in energy prices," said Charsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING Bank.
        Analysts and institutional investors participating in July's ZEW survey were slightly more satisfied with Germany's current situation. The corresponding indicator rose to 63.9 from 62.9 in June.
        Karen Hage contributed to this article.
        Write to Nina Adam at nina.adam@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 14, 2015 05:34 ET (09:34 GMT)

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