Eurozone economic confidence stabilises in May
Confidence in the Eurozone’s economy stabilised in May, according to the European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Indicator.
The index held steady at 103.8 from an upwardly revised 103.7 in April, beating expectations for a drop to 103.5.
The stabilisation was partly the result of increasing confidence in the services, retail trade and construction sectors being offset by consumer confidence decreasing for a second month in a row.
The industrial confidence index came in at -3 compared with -3.2 a month earlier, while the consumer confidence indicator fell to -5.5 from -4.6, but the services sentiment indicator rose to 7.8 from 7 in April.
“Small gains in core Europe were offset by some losses in the periphery and in Eastern Europe. Greece has regained the red lantern in the entire EU from Luxembourg, confirming that rarely has a new government done as much damage to the economy it is entrusted with in such a short time,” said Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg.
BNP Paribas, meanwhile, said “today’s numbers are welcome, as they suggest that the loss of growth momentum signalled in the PMI may be overstated.”