Talking points:
- German business confidence stayed at October’s healthy level in November.
- However, German GDP growth was confirmed at just 0.2% in the third quarter
- The Euro and the DAX did not seem to show a discrete reaction to the data
German business confidence remained at October’s healthy level in November, suggesting that GDP growth in Europe’s largest economy should improve in the fourth quarter from the third quarter’s depressed level.
“Confidence in the German economy continues to be good. The Ifo Business Climate Index remained unchanged at 110.4 points in November,” commented Clemens Fuest, President of the Ifo Institute. “Firms were once again more satisfied with their current business situation, but with regard to the coming months they are somewhat less optimistic. The economic upturn in Germany remains intact. The German economy seems to be unfazed by the election of Donald Trump as US President,” he added.
The news followed earlier confirmation that the German economy slumped in the July-September quarter. Growth was confirmed at just 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, half the growth rate of the previous three months. That’s equivalent to annualized expansion of 0.8%, way below the 2.9% recorded in the US, with weak trade figures largely to blame.
The DAX – Germany’s main stock-market index – seemed to pay little heed to the confidence data but looks to be broadly supported at the time of writing, trading up 0.2% at 10,683. The Euro was little changed against the Dollar, with EUR/USD at 1.0562.
Chart created using TradingView
--- Written by Martin Essex MSTA, Analyst and Editor
To contact Martin, email him at martin.essex@ig.com
