10 seconds ago 2009-12-04T10:25:03-08:00
FRANKFURT (AFP) – Sentiment among German investors has slumped slightly again and stood in November at an indexed 51.1 points, the ZEW economic research institute said on Tuesday.
The barometer of Germany's financial sector had edged down to 56.0 points in October and analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires expected it to come in at 54 points this time around.
"The upward trend of the economic expectations is interrupted for the time being. The surveyed financial market experts signal that they do not count on a strong boost for economic growth in the next year," a statement quoted ZEW president Wolfgang Franz as saying.
"It rather seems that economic recovery will proceed in small steps," he added.
The index had also dipped slightly in October, but still remained well above its historical average of 26.9 points.
Meanwhile, an assessment by investors of the current situation improved in November by 6.6 points to minus 65.6 points
But the second consecutive decrease in the highly volatile headline index "shows that confidence in the recovery remains fragile, although the survey still suggests that conditions are improving," Capital Economics economist Jennifer McKeown said.
She thought that falls in share prices since the last poll might account for the latest decrease, as the DAX index of German bluechips is now about 1.6 percent lower than a month ago.
"We still think that Germany will lead the recovery in the euro-zone," McKeown concluded.
