- Carsten Brzeski, senior European economist at ING Group
Investor optimism in Germany improved in October, a sign Europe's biggest economy is continuing to gain momentum. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its monthly poll of economic sentiment climbed to minus 11.5 points, up from minus 18.2 in September, above analyst's expectations of a reading of minus 14.9 points. Any reading above 0.0 indicates optimism, while below signals pessimism.
"The improvement was primarily driven by investor relief at the ECB's unlimited bond-purchase program," said Carsten Brzeski, senior European economist at ING Group in Brussels. "However, it also points to a soft landing for the German economy. The outlook is more subdued, but we won't have a recession."
"The improvement in the mood is continuing. The concerns over a renewed escalation of the euro zone debt crisis have eased appreciably and thus concerns about a further worsening of the economic situation," said VP Bank economist Bernd Hartmann.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 1.32 per cent to 274.38. Germany's DAX Index edged higher 1.58 per cent to 7,376.27 and France's CAC 40 Index rocketed 2.36 per cent to 3,500.94.
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