German business sentiment improves again - Ifo

(Sharecast News) - German business sentiment improved again in November, albeit a little less than expected, according to a survey released on Friday by the Ifo Institute. The business climate index rose to 87.3 from 86.9 in October, a touch below consensus expectations of 87.5. This marked the third consecutive increase.

The expectations index pushed up to 85.2 in November from 84.8 a month earlier, while the current assessment gauge ticked up to 89.4 from 89.2.

The manufacturing gauge improved to -13.5 from -15.7, while the service sector index declined to -2.5 from -1.5. The index for trade came in at -22.2 from -27.3 and the construction gauge was -29.4 versus -30.8.

Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, said: "It's better than another drop but the latest improvement in the Ifo index is too insignificant to really celebrate.

"It points to a bottoming out of the German economy, rather than an imminent rebound."