Germany's Ifo business climate index rose for the sixth month in a row in October as both expectations for the future and firms' assessments of current conditions picked up, the Ifo institute said today.
The Munich-based think tank, which polls 7,000 firms each month for its survey, said the improvement in the index was not confined to expectations for the future but also reflected a brighter assessment of the current situation.
Companies' assessments of current conditions, which are being closely watched after they deteriorated in September, rose to 81.1 from 79.2 in September. Future expectations picked up to from 105.2.
The rise in the Ifo index came after Belgium reported an improvement in business confidence in October last week, while Italy posted a slight month-on-month fall in its main business confidence index.
