Europe: Economic sentiment falls in September

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Economic sentiment in September dropped on a monthly basis both in the eurozone and the EU28, the European Commission announced on Friday.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) this month in the EU28 and the eurozone fell 1.4 points to reach 101.7 and 100, respectively, versus August, according to a press release by the commission.

The fall in the euro area stemmed from lower confidence in industry and retail trade, while it improved among consumers and remained unchanged in services and construction.

Amongst the largest euro-area economies, the ESI fell significantly in the Netherlands, into negative territory, with Spain (both -3.1) and Germany (-1.2) and, to a lesser extent, Italy (-0.8), it said.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

"In line with the euro area, confidence worsened markedly in industry, remained broadly stable in services and improved slightly among consumers," the commission noted.

"However, EU confidence in construction decreased strongly, while improving markedly in retail trade. The rise in EU financial services confidence was in line with euro-area developments," it added.

Meanwhile, the EU Commission also stressed that the Business Climate Indicator (BCI), of which all components worsened, for the EA19 dropped 0.34 points to -0.22 in September.

"The decline was particularly sharp in managers’ assessments of past production, export order books and overall order books. Albeit to a lesser extent, also their production expectations, as well as their views on stocks of finished products worsened markedly," the EC said.