 German investor confidence is continuing to fall |
German investor confidence has fallen once again in October to reach its lowest level in more than 13 years, a survey has said. The latest confidence index from the ZEW economic institute fell sharply from a level of -2.2 in September to -27.4 in October.
The figure will increase concern about growth in Europe's biggest economy.
ZEW compiled its closely-watched index by talking to 298 analysts and institutional investors.
'Find a floor'
The financial markets had expected this month's figure to dip to -20.
Any figure below zero represents negative investor sentiment.
Among the factos ZEW identified as weighing down the index were the knock-on effects of economic slowdown in the US, higher interest rates in Europe, and Germany's plans to increase value-added tax in January.
Economists at ZEW said these factors overshadowed the positive impact of rising industrial orders - but predicted an improvement in sentiment before the end of the year.
"The decrease this month was relatively light," ZEW economist Matthias Koehler said. "I expect next month the indicator will find a floor, then rise again."
Despite the gloom in Germany, interest rates are on the rise - thanks to the decision by the independent European Central Bank (ECB) to put eurozone rates up by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25% earlier in October.
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