Investing.com – Germany's consumer climate held steady in December, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, market research group Gfk said its index of Germany's consumer climate was unchanged at 5.6 in December, confounding expectations for a decline to 5.5.
While income and economic expectations both improved, willingness to buy dropped significantly.
Despite rising economic risks and further escalation of the debt crisis, Germans are once again more optimistic about the future.
In December, economic expectations increased for the first time in five months. In line with rising economic optimism, consumers are anticipating higher incomes next year, with the indicator once again rising from an already high level.
The report added that, “The European debt crisis is increasingly likely to become a problem for Germany’s export economy if a number of countries are forced to reduce imports due to consolidation pressures on government budgets.”
Following the release of the data, the euro was fractionally higher against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD easing up 0.08% to trade at 1.3010.
Meanwhile, the outlook for European stock markets was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 futures fell 0.3%, the FTSE 100 futures declined 0.35%, while Germany's DAX futures slumped 0.4%.
In a report, market research group Gfk said its index of Germany's consumer climate was unchanged at 5.6 in December, confounding expectations for a decline to 5.5.
While income and economic expectations both improved, willingness to buy dropped significantly.
Despite rising economic risks and further escalation of the debt crisis, Germans are once again more optimistic about the future.
In December, economic expectations increased for the first time in five months. In line with rising economic optimism, consumers are anticipating higher incomes next year, with the indicator once again rising from an already high level.
The report added that, “The European debt crisis is increasingly likely to become a problem for Germany’s export economy if a number of countries are forced to reduce imports due to consolidation pressures on government budgets.”
Following the release of the data, the euro was fractionally higher against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD easing up 0.08% to trade at 1.3010.
Meanwhile, the outlook for European stock markets was downbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 futures fell 0.3%, the FTSE 100 futures declined 0.35%, while Germany's DAX futures slumped 0.4%.