Eurozone economic sentiment deteriorates in March

Economic sentiment in the eurozone deteriorated slightly in March, according to data released on Thursday.

The European Commission’s Economic Sentiment indicator edged down to 99.3 from 99.7 a month earlier. Economists were expecting an uptick to 99.8.

The decline was put down to slightly lower confidence in industry, retail trade and construction, with sentiment in services and among consumers virtually unchanged.

Rory Fennessy, European economist at Oxford Economics, said it's important to note that much of the data collection was done prior to the recent global financial tensions stemming from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the acquisition of Credit Suisse.

"The ESI results for March show that the eurozone economy remains in a precarious situation, even if other survey data such as the PMIs are showing rises in sentiment and a slow pick-up in activity," he said. "But recent tensions in global financial markets will likely filter further into sentiment data as tighter financial conditions weigh on the real economy."