Investing.com – Belgian business confidence improved more-than-expected in January, but remained in negative territory for the ninth consecutive month, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the National Bank of Belgium said its business climate index improved by 1.1 points to a seasonally adjusted minus 9.5 in January from a reading of minus 10.6 in December.
Analysts had expected the index to improve by 0.5 points to minus 10.1 in January.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
The strengthening of confidence among entrepreneurs is mainly attributable to the marked improvement in the economic climate in business-related services.
The building industry recorded some progress, albeit limited, for the second time running, while in the trade sector, after last month's strong recovery, some deterioration was noted.
The smoothed overall synthetic curve, which mirrors the underlying economic trend, is still pointing downwards but the pace of the decline is slowing down.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.44% to trade at 1.2956.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 1%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.1%, the FTSE 100 declined 0.9%, while Germany's DAX retreated 1.1%.
In a report, the National Bank of Belgium said its business climate index improved by 1.1 points to a seasonally adjusted minus 9.5 in January from a reading of minus 10.6 in December.
Analysts had expected the index to improve by 0.5 points to minus 10.1 in January.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
The strengthening of confidence among entrepreneurs is mainly attributable to the marked improvement in the economic climate in business-related services.
The building industry recorded some progress, albeit limited, for the second time running, while in the trade sector, after last month's strong recovery, some deterioration was noted.
The smoothed overall synthetic curve, which mirrors the underlying economic trend, is still pointing downwards but the pace of the decline is slowing down.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.44% to trade at 1.2956.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 1%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.1%, the FTSE 100 declined 0.9%, while Germany's DAX retreated 1.1%.