Despite this morning’s disappointing cost of living figures another piece of data was added to the recent pile of optimistic European statistics today, fuelling hopes that the worst of the sovereign debt crisis could be behind the struggling Eurozone.
Despite the ‘fiscal cliff’ uncertainty in the US leading into worries over America’s debt ceiling and other continuing global economic challenges, an index compiled by the Germany-based Sentix institute showed a fifth month of improving confidence among European investors.
Confidence in the currency bloc’s economy leapt from minus 16.8 in December to minus 7 – the strongest level seen for 18 months.
Economists participating in a Bloomberg News Survey only expected an increase of 2.6.
Measures of current conditions and economic expectations also improved, rising by 6.7 and 13.5 respectively.
An economist with Sentix asserted: ‘That the improvement in the index has been so strong is partly down to many small improvements in the Euro area such as Greece’s successful debt payback. On the other hand, the US has avoided falling over the fiscal cliff, and that is reflected in the indexes’.
Whilst this is good news for the Eurozone, financial stability is still a long way off and in the months ahead issues which took a back seat in recent weeks, such as the political situation in Italy and the regional dissent in Spain, may become prominent once more.
As of 11:15 pm
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 1.2306
The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.6054
The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.5509
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.3037
The Euro to Pound exchange rate is currently trading at 0.8120
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