German investor sentiment cools down

Investor confidence among German entrepreneurs has fallen for the fourth month in a row. Expectations are gloomy despite the German economy's resilience to the eurozone debt crisis, a leading think tank says.

German investor confidence dropped for the fourth consecutive month in August, a fresh survey by the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) showed on Tuesday.
The Mannheim-based think tank said its index measuring the mood among analysts and institutional investors fell deeper into negative territory, easing to minus 25.5 points, down from minus 19.6 points in July, thus reaching its lowest level this year.
"The indicator's decline in August signals that financial market experts still expect the German economy to cool down throughout the next six months," the ZEW said in a statement. "Especially export-oriented sectors may be affected."
Exaggerated fears
A separate indicator measuring the assessment of the current economic situation in Germany fell to minus 18.2 points, the lowest level since July 2010.
"The mood clearly is worse than the current economic situation justifies," BHF Bank Economist Uwe Angenendt told Reuters news agency. "We for our part believe that the German economy will be able to grow even in the third and fourth quarters of the year."
Expectations for the eurozone's economic development as a whole remained almost unchanged in the ZEW's survey, with a slight improvement of 1.1 points failing to signal a fundamental shift in appraisal.
hg/jlw (AFP, Reuters, dpa)