SHARE
COPY LINK

STOCKS

Investor sentiment continues to slide

German investor sentiment fell for the fourth month running as Europe's biggest economy braced for a "burdensome and long" recovery, the ZEW economic research institute said on Tuesday.

Foreign exchange traders sold the euro on the news, and the single currency fell to $1.4321 in London from $1.4382 late on Monday.

The ZEW indicator of German economic sentiment fell more steeply than forecast to an indexed 47.2 points, the the lowest level since July 2009.

“The assessment of the financial market experts suggests that we will see an economic recovery in 2010 at best, but not a clear economic upswing,” a statement quoted ZEW president Wolfgang Franz as saying.

“The way out of the recession is burdensome and long,” he added.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected the German financial sector barometer to just edge lower to 49.8 points.

The index remained well above its historical average of 26.9 points, but “according to the experts, the automobile and consumption sector is likely to develop downwards in the next half year,” the ZEW statement said.

ING senior economist Carsten Brzeski said however that the latest reading showed only that experts had a clearer idea of the challenges facing Germany as it pulls out of its worst recession since the Second World War.

“The initial enthusiasm after the end of the recession last year has made way for more realism,” Brzeski said. “The German economy is now entering calmer waters.”

Germany should post modest, possibly uneven growth in 2010, though a Finance Ministry spokesman said Monday that economic activity could expand by 1.5 percent this year, an upward revision from the previous 1.2 percent forecast.

The government has cut it 2010 jobless forecast meanwhile to around 3.7 million from a previous estimate of 4.1 million, the Handelsblatt business daily said on Tuesday.

In its measure of the current situation, ZEW said an assessment by investors improved in January by four points to minus 56.6 points, the eighth consecutive rise and the highest level since November 2008.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

FRANKFURT

Emergency numbers fail in several German states

Callers to the emergency numbers 110 and 112 weren’t able to reach operators Thursday morning in several German states.

The 112 emergency number on an ambulance.
The 112 emergency number on an ambulance. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

The emergency number 110 for police and 112 for fire crews failed around the country early Thursday morning, with callers unable to reach emergency operators for urgent assistance between about 4:30 am and 5:40 am local time.

The Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Aid is looking into these outages, which were reported in states including Lower Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, and  Brandenburg, and in major cities like Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and Frankfurt. Cologne was further affected by cuts to electricity, drinking water, and regular telephone services. Lower Saxony also saw disruptions to the internal phone networks of police and hospitals.

Emergency services are not reporting any more disturbances and people should be able to once again reach 110 and 112 around the country as normal.

Investigators are looking into the problem, but haven’t yet established a cause or any consequences that may have happened due to the outage. Provider Deutsche Telekom says they have ruled out the possibility of an attack by hackers.

SHOW COMMENTS