German consumer confidence dips in November

Consumer confidence in the euro area's largest economy dipped in November but continued to point towards continued strong growth, the results of a widely-followed survey revealed.

GfK's consumer sentiment index slipped from a reading of 10.8 for October to 10.7.

Despite the rosy outlook, GfK pointed out that "certain" risks existed, including the Brexit negotiations, North Korea, and future US trade policy.

A "protracted" deadlock in trying to forge a new coalition government in Germany might also unsettle some consumers and jeopardise consumer demand.

The subindex tracking economic expectations was stronger, jumping by 10.1 points to 43.5 to almost fully recover the level it reached in August.

Indeed, as the consultancy pointed out the latest forecasts from Berlin were for economic growth of 2.0% in 2017.

Income expectations on the other hand did retreat, with the corresponding subindex losing four points to 48.7, although consumers continued to expect that their incomes would still grow "appreciably" in the future.

Nonetheless, GfK noted quickly rising inflation in some parts of the consumer space such as food and fuel, food and dairy products, although inflation was more generally not a concern.

Germans' willingess-to-buy also remained at lofty levels, with a related sub-index printing at 59.2, which was down by 2.2 points from the prior month.