German investor confidence falls for third month, euro widens losses: German investor confidence resumed its drop for a third month in March, amid worries regarding recovery path in the euro area. The index of investor and analyst expectations retreated to 46.6 in March from 55.7 in February, lower than median estimate of 53.0, the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said on Tuesday. The current situation gauge rose to 51.3 from a prior 50.0, compared to forecast of 52.8. The pace of growth in the German economy is estimated to increase again in 2014 and 2015, Bundesbank said in an annual statement last week. The German government raised its projection for economic growth last month, as it now predicts the economy to grow by 1.8 percent this year, compared to a 1.7 percent expansion expected previously. Germany expanded 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter, after growing 0.3 percent in the previous three months. PMI manufacturing fell to 54.8 in February from the 32-month high of 56.5 recorded in January, while the services gauge soared to 55.9 from a previous of 53.1. In the euro area, ZEW survey (expectations) plummeted from 68.5 in February to 61.5 this month. The ECB now sees 2014 GDP at 1.2 percent versus 1.1 percent in December, referring that the forecast suggest fiscal progress. For the meantime, the focus would remain on further clues about the bank’s coming action after the drop in inflation to 0.7 percent. As long as inflation remains low the higher the possibility the euro area would reel from deflationary pressures, ECB President Mario Draghi has revealed. While Draghi refrained from introducing new monetary tools to stave off the low inflation this month, he said the ECB has been preparing for new monetary tools to combat deflation. As of 10:05 GMT, the euro widened its losses versus the green currency to drop to a low of 1.3889 after hitting a peak of 1.3936 earlier today.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:22:02 +0000
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