May EU economic sentiment slightly down, broadly stable in euro area

Amongst the largest EU economies, the ESI rose markedly in Spain (plus 4.1 points) and, to a lesser extent, in France (plus 1.5 points) and Italy (plus 0.8 points), while it remained virtually unchanged in Germany (plus 0.2 points). Sentiment clouded over in Poland (minus 0.8 points) and the Netherlands ( minus 1.2 points), said an official press release.

Industry confidence weakened for the third month running (minus 1.4), as managers’ assessments of the current level of overall order books saw the sharpest deterioration in two years. Production expectations worsened only slightly, while managers’ appraisals of the stocks of finished products stayed virtually unchanged.

Services confidence stayed broadly unchanged (plus 0.1) in May for the second month in a row. While managers’ appraisals of the past business situation and past demand improved, their demand expectations clouded over.

Consumer confidence weakened mildly (minus 0.4). While consumers’ views on their past financial situation and expectations about the general economic situation worsened, their intentions to make major purchases stabilised and expectations about their future financial situation saw some further relief.

After two months of sharp declines, retail trade confidence stayed virtually unchanged in May (plus 0.1). While managers’ expected business situation clouded over, their views on the past business situation recovered partially from last months’ deteriorations. The level of stocks was assessed as less scarce, hinting at some further moderation of the prevailing supply constraints.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)