Eurozone consumer confidence unexpectedly drops in June

The EC’s flash consumer confidence index fell to -7.3 from -7.0 in May, missing expectations for it to remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, the index for the European Union fell 0.1 points to -5.8.

Capital Economics said the drop in confidence may partly reflect Brexit worries, which could prove temporary, but said the big picture remains that household spending growth is set to slow.

“Heightened fears of a Brexit earlier in the month are likely to be behind at least some of the fall given the mid-month dip in European equites, which tend to be fairly closely related to consumer confidence,” said assistant economist Andrew Wishart.

“And even assuming that the UK votes to remain in the EU tomorrow, the outlook for the euro-zone’s consumer sector remains weak.”