Investing.com – Economic sentiment in Switzerland fell for the fourth consecutive month in August, as a strong Swiss franc and concerns over the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis weighed, data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said its indicator of economic sentiment fell by 12.5 points to minus 71.4 in August from a reading of minus 58.9 in July.
A reading above 0.0 on the indicator indicates optimism, while a score below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
The indicator for the assessment of the current economic situation also recorded a sharp drop, falling by 18.6 points to minus 34.3.
Expectations regarding inflation and interest rates also declined in August. Only 14.3% of the financial market experts surveyed forecast an advancing inflation rate on a six-month horizon.
None of the experts expects an interest rate hike in the same timeframe.
Following the release of the data, the Swiss franc was up against the U.S. dollar, with USD/CHF shedding 0.34% to trade at 0.7931.
In a report, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said its indicator of economic sentiment fell by 12.5 points to minus 71.4 in August from a reading of minus 58.9 in July.
A reading above 0.0 on the indicator indicates optimism, while a score below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
The indicator for the assessment of the current economic situation also recorded a sharp drop, falling by 18.6 points to minus 34.3.
Expectations regarding inflation and interest rates also declined in August. Only 14.3% of the financial market experts surveyed forecast an advancing inflation rate on a six-month horizon.
None of the experts expects an interest rate hike in the same timeframe.
Following the release of the data, the Swiss franc was up against the U.S. dollar, with USD/CHF shedding 0.34% to trade at 0.7931.