Investing.com - German economic sentiment in May stayed close to levels last seen since late 2012, underlining concern over the health of the euro zone's largest economy.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment held at -8.2 points this month. Analysts had expected the index to improve slightly to -8.0 points.
The Current Conditions Index dropped to 87.4 from 87.9 in April, but still better than expectations for a reading of 86.2.
On the index, a level above 0.0 indicates optimism, a level below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
Data released earlier showed that German growth halved in the first quarter of the year due to weaker trade and less state spending, though analysts said they saw it as a temporary blip.
Europe's biggest economy grew by 0.3% in the first three months, the slowest rate since the third quarter of 2016, preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Office showed.
This compared with expectations for growth of 0.4% and followed an expansion rate of 0.6% in the final three months of last year.