Italian consumer confidence index rises in January, business sentiment falls

Italian consumer sentiment rose in January. The official statistical office, ISTAT, showed that the consumer confidence index rose to 111.8 from December’s 110.8. The rebound was seen throughout all components. In particular, the economic climate improved to 123.8 from 120.9. The personal index rose to 108.4 from December’s 106.8. Meanwhile, the current and future confidence indices rose to 110.7 and 114.7, respectively.

Meanwhile, the business confidence climate dropped to 99.2 from 100.7. The manufacturing confidence index rose to 99.9 from 99.3. With regard to the series included into the definition of the climate, both assessments on order books and expectations on production rebounded. The balance of inventories rose a bit to 4.9 from 4.5.

The confidence index in construction rose to 142.7 from 140.1. Component wise, the assessments on order books/construction plans fell to -14.1 from -12.8 while the employment expectations rebounded to 2.6.

The market services sentiment index fell to 99.5 from 102.2. All of its components deteriorated. The balance of assessments on order books fell to -1.9 from 2.1. Meanwhile, the one related to business trend fell to 5.3 from 6.9 and, finally, the one of expectations on order books fell to 6 from 8.8.

Lastly, the retail trade confidence index dropped to 106.6 from 110.6. The assessments on current sales and expectations on the future business activity deteriorated to 13.8 from 21.6 and to 20.5 from 24.4. As for inventories, the related balance rose to 7 from 6.3. The retail trade sentiment eased in the small and medium scale distribution and fell in the large scale one.