Eurozone sentiment indicator posts surprise jump to 96.6 in August

The eurozone's August Economic Sentiment Indicator recorded a surprise jump month on month, according to official data published on Thursday, beating expectations of no gain.

The ESI jumped to 96.6 from 96 in July, with services, industry and retail trade confidence driving the rise, while confidence among consumers and in construction remained broadly stable.

For the largest EU economies, the ESI improved significantly for France (+4.3), while there was also a marked jump for Spain (+1.3) and the Netherlands (+0.9), while for Poland the ESI recorded only a slight increase (+0.3). The ESI deteriorated for Germany (-1.7) and Italy (-1.2).

"The most notable result was France's remarkable rise ... with the Olympics likely playing a role. But the largest gains were registered in the industrial sector, in contrast with August’s PMI, which suggested that the economic benefits of the Olympics mostly accrued to the services sector," said Paolo Grignani, senior economist at Oxford Economics.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com