Eurozone Economic Sentiment Strengthens In October

(RTTNews) - Eurozone economic confidence rose to a 10-month high in October, survey data from the European Commission showed Friday.

The economic sentiment index rose more-than-expected to 106.3 in October from 104.9 in September. This was the highest since December 2015, when the reading was 106.6. The expected reading was 104.9.

The industrial confidence indicator climbed to -0.6 from -1.8. Increasing industry confidence resulted from a marked improvement in managers' production expectations and improved assessments of overall order books and the stocks of finished products.

The confidence index for services came in at 12.0 versus 10 in September. The marked rise in services confidence resulted from managers' significantly brighter assessment of past demand and the past business situation.

The consumer confidence index improved to -8 as initially estimated from -8.2 in the prior month.

The retailers confidence index held steady at 0.4 in October. Unchanged confidence in retail trade resulted from a marked improvement in managers' views on the expected business situation, offset by a strong deterioration in managers' assessment of the present business situation.

The confidence index for construction rose to -14.3 from -15.6 in the previous month. The marked rise in construction confidence was fueled by upward revisions in managers' employment expectations, while their assessment of the level of order books remained broadly stable.

The business climate index rose marginally to 0.55 in October from 0.44 in September. Managers' production expectations and their assessments of export order books improved sharply.

Also their assessments of the past production, the level of overall order books and the stocks of finished products improved.