Italian consumer sentiment index deteriorates in December, business climate index falls

Italian consumer sentiment index deteriorated in December. According to Istat, the consumer confidence index dropped to 113.1 from 114.7 in the prior month. All the components lowered: the economic one from 131.5 to 129.4, the personal one from 108.9 to 107. The current index fell to 110 from 111.5, whereas the future one dropped to 116 from 118.7.

The balance concerning expectations on unemployment grew to 29.6 from 22.8, while both the perceptions on inflation for the past 12 months and the expectations on inflation for the next 12 months fell.

Meanwhile, the business sentiment surveys, the composite business sentiment climate index dropped to 99.8 from 101. The manufacturing confidence index dropped to 103.6 from 104.3. Production expectations rebounded to 9.8, while assessments on order books deteriorated. With regard to the assessments on inventories, the relative balance changed to 4.5 from 3.9.

Construction sentiment index dropped for the second consecutive month in December. The index fell to 130.3 from 132.5. Assessments on order books/construction plans and employment expectations deteriorated.

The market services sentiment index dropped to 99.5 from 101.7. The balances concerning assessments on order books and assessments on business trend changed for the worse while, on the contrary, the expectations on order books rebounded to 5.1.

The retail trade sentiment index rose to 104.8. Both the assessments on current sales and the expectations on the future ones bettered, while the balance relating to the assessments on volume of stocks diminished. The sentiment improved in the large scale distribution and in the small and medium scale distribution.

At 14:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Euro was neutral at 36.5898, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at -26.7098. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex