EZ consumer sentiment falls unexpectedly in February

Confidence in the eurozone worsened unexpectedly this month, highlighting the single-currency bloc's struggle to emerge from the impact of the Covid pandemic and war in Ukraine, according to a survey of consumers and managers published on Wednesday.

The eurozone sentiment indicator, which measures both business and consumer confidence, fell to 95.4, against expectations of a slight rise and against a downwardly-revised 96.1 in January.

A slight increase in consumer confidence was more than offset by a sharp fall in business sentiment, with services sentiment down 2.4 points to a six-month low of 6.0.