Investing.com - German economic sentiment deteriorated unexpectedly in July, hitting the lowest level since December 2012, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment fell by 2.7 points to 27.1 this month from June’s reading of 29.8. Analysts had expected the index to decline by 1.8 points to 28.0 in July.
The Current Conditions Index deteriorated to 61.8 this month from 67.7 in June, worse than expectations for a decline to 67.0.
Meanwhile, the index of euro zone economic sentiment increased to 61.8 in July from 58.4 in June, below expectations for a rise to 62.3.
On the index, a level above 0.0 indicates optimism, a level below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
Following the release of that data, the euro added to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD easing down 0.15% to trade at 1.3598, compared to 1.3605 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained mixed. Germany's DAX dipped 0.2%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 shed 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.1%.