Suddenly, Businesses In Europe Are Starting To Feel Better About Everything
Oct 30, 2014, 15:30 IST
After four months of stagnation or decline, economic sentiment among business managers in Europe has finally picked up in both the euro currency area (by 0.8 points to 100.7) and the wider countries of the EU (by 0.5 points to 104.0), according to the European Commission's latest survey.
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Sentiment about the region's economy improved across all of the region's largest economies except Spain, where it saw a modest decline. The improvement was driven by a more positive outlook for the retail trade, services and especially construction. The survey covers executives in all types of industries.
The more modest increase in the EU sentiment index was driven by a sharp fall in sentiment for the UK, which fell by -2.1.
Elsewhere the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area remained virtually unchanged, with managers' optimism over the prospects for export order books offset by a cautious view on stocks of finished products and past production.
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