BRUSSELS, April 28 (Reuters) - The Conference Board research group's Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the euro zone rose 1.0 percent in March to 109.2, but the group cautioned on Wednesday that economic recovery remained fragile.
The monthly pick-up is mainly the result of rebounding confidence indicators, but it is too early to treat this as an improvement in the trend of moderating growth in the index, said Jean-Claude Manini, the group's senior economist for Europe.
"The economy continues to face substantial headwinds related to weak construction, volatile orders and increased concerns over public finances," he said in a statement.
The increase in March, when five of the eight components contributed positively to the index, followed a 0.5 percent gain in February, but the group said the six-month growth rate had slowed since September 2009.
The index, which indicates economic development up to six months ahead, aggregates eight economic indicators that measure activity in the euro area as a whole.
The index components include the European Commission's economic sentiment index, Eurostat's index of residential building permits granted and index of capital goods new orders, and the Dow Jones EURO STOXX Index.
It also includes the European Central Bank's money supply data and interest rate spreads as well as the euro zone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index from Markit Economics and its euro zone Service Sector Future Business Activity Expectations Index. (Reporting by Marcin Grajewski, editing by Dale Hudson)