German ZEW hits lowest level in a year in October

German investor confidence fell to its weakest level in a year, figures released on Tuesday showed.

The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations declined from 12.1in September to 1.9 in October, marking the seventh consecutive decline and falling well short of the 6.5 reading analysts expected.

Germany, Eurozone’s largest economy, has endured a turbulent couple of weeks, with the Volkswagen emission scandal wiping 3.5% off the country’s benchmark index in the two days after the car maker admitted fixing emission tests for over 11m vehicles.

“The exhaust-gas scandal of Volkswagen and the weak growth of emerging markets has dampened economic outlook for Germany,” said ZEW President Clemens Fuest.

“However, the performance of the domestic economy is still good and the euro-area economy continues to recover.”

ZEW’s gauge for current conditions in Germany fell from 67.5 to 55.2 in October, while the sub-index tracking business expectations in the Eurozone declined from 33.3 to 30.1.