German consumer confidence strengthens more than forecast in May
Germans were in more buoyant spirits in April amid significant increases in income expectations and for the economy with further improvement expected, the results of a widely-followed survey showed.
GfK's consumer confidence gauge for April stood at 9.8 points, with the consultancy predicting it would rise to 10.2 next month.
Economists' forecasts were calling for a reading of 9.9 in May.
Consumers in the euro area's largest economy are now much more positive about their economic prospects, GfK says, with the subindex gaining for a second month in a row, rising by 12.5 points to 30.5 - its highest value since May 2015.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future economic and political direction of the new US President and the Brexit negotiations which are just beginning, German consumers believe that their own economy is nonetheless headed in the right direction. The moderate upturn will become more firmly established."
In parallel, a sub-index linked to income prospects jumped by 14.1 points to 57.5, the same level as last year, with GfK attributing that to better prospects for the economy and low inflation.
A sub-index linked to Germans' propensity to buy also improved, rising by 4.7 points to 60.2.
Germany's leading economic institutes recently revised their projection for Germany's rate of GDP growth this year from 1.4% to 1.5%.