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German investor sentiment improves
By Gerrit Wiesmann in Frankfurt
Published: February 17 2009 12:35 | Last updated: February 17 2009 12:35
German investor confidence improved more than expected in February, a sign the financial community is looking beyond a dismal next few months and banking on a stabilization of Europe’s largest economy in the second half of the year.
The ZEW Centre for European Economics said its index of investor and analyst expectations increased to –5.8 points this month from –31 points in January, the fourth rise in a row and above economists’ expectations of a small jump.
Although the ZEW is sometimes erratic, its latest figures chime with the Ifo Institute’s respected German business sentiment index, which a month ago registered a surprise improvement in outlook among the county’s business community.
Alexander Koch, an economist at Unicredit in Munich, said the German economy shrank late 2008 and would face “another ugly quarter” at the start of 2009. But the ZEW suggested “recession … won’t deepen further in the coming quarters”.
Although investors may have been influenced by an as yet one-off rise in business confidence, economists also speculated that they were drawing confidence from economic stimulus packages, launched by governments the world over.
Also, the European Central Bank continued on a path of rate cuts with a 50 basis point downward step in January - and many observers expect a similar easing from the current rate of 2 per cent when the ECB’s governors meet in March.
The German government recently approved a €50bn stimulus programme, and ministers have reaffirmed their belief that the outlook will improve this summer - although they remain coy about when the economy might grow again.
Ralph Solveen, an economist at Commerzbank, said leading indicators like the ZEW and the Ifo would still “have to rise sharply again” in the next months “before any signal is sounded that gross domestic product is picking up again.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009