Investing.com - German business confidence turned around and rose higher in March, rebounding from a 14-month low in February, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the German research institute Ifo said its Business Climate Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 106.7 this month from a reading of 105.7 in February, above forecasts for 106.0.
The Current Assessment Index increased to 113.8 in February from 112.9 a month earlier and beating expectations for 112.6.
The Business Expectations Index, which measures attitudes toward business prospects over the next six months, improved to 100.0 this month from the reading of 98.9 in February, compared to estimates for a reading of 99.5.
The monthly index is based on a survey of around 7,000 German firms in the manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail sectors.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1204 from around 1.1196 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7850 from 0.7844 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower as they digested incoming information on the explosions in Brussels. The benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.91%, Germany's DAX shed 1.04%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.90%, while London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.67%.