German ZEW weaker than expected in March

German investor confidence came in a weaker than expected for March, according to the latest survey from the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim.

The index of investor and analyst expectations rose 3.3 points from the previous month to 4.3 points, but this was below economists’ forecast of 5.4.

The index for current expectations also fell short of expectations, dropping 1.6 points to 50.7 points.

“The uncertainty associated with the future economic development of important emerging economies, with the development of the oil price and with the external value of the euro continues to call for caution,” said Professor Sascha Steffen, head of the ZEW Research Department for International Finance and Financial Management.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “We normally pay close attention to the ZEW because it gives an advance lead on the key economic surveys in Germany, but when it is released after the IFO as today, it doesn’t provide much information. Overall, though, the message from this survey is that investors remain slightly more downbeat than business leaders.”