Swiss ZEW economic expectations index improved in January

Switzerland's economic sentiment improved for the fourth time in a row as a sign of better times for the economy, however the majority of economists see the economic situation will remain unchanged in the next six-month period. The ZEW-CS indicator rose by 8.6 points to minus 6.9 points in the first month of 2013, compared to a figure of minus 50.1 points in the last January.

"While the share of analysts expecting a deterioration of the economy remains broadly constant" 20.5 percent in January compared to 22.2 percent in December, "there are more analysts expecting an improvement in economic conditions over the next six months (13.6% versus 6.7%)," Credit Suisse said.