Ifo’s business climate index jumped to 109.0 from 108.2 in October, beating forecasts for a reading of 108.2.
Advertisement
The current situation index of the survey climbed to 113.4 from 112.7.
“The positive Ifo reading is a bit of a conundrum as it is not entirely matched by positive hard data”, ING Bank economist Carsten Brzeski said.
German business confidence bounced back in November as Europe’s top economy shrugged off global uncertainty and the deadly jihadist assault in Paris, a leading economic think tank said Tuesday.
The survey of 7,000 firms was carried out Nov. 2 to Nov. 24, so included responses after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks and after details of Volkswagen’s emissions-rigging scandal had emerged. Inventories added 0.2 percentage point.
Meanwhile, expectations improved for a third consecutive month to the strongest level since May past year.
Private spending increased 0.6 percent in the three months through September, according to data released Tuesday from the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden.
Even so, economic activity in Germany picked up this month, with a gauge of services at the highest level since September 2014 and a measure of manufacturing also advancing, a survey by London-based Markit Economics showed on Monday.
Advertisement
A sub-index for the automotive sector continued to rise despite the emissions scandal at Volkswagen, Ifo said. Economists had expected the index to hold steady after easing in the previous month.
