The IFO business confidence index in Germany rose in July to 86.6, up from 85.7 in June, exceeding market expectations. The index, which surveys nearly 9,000 German companies, showed improvement as businesses expressed optimism about the current situation and improved expectations for the coming months.

Specifically, the current situation index rose to 86.5 from 87.0 in June, while the expectations index climbed to 86.7 from 84.3 in June.

At the sector level, the manufacturing index fell to -9.6 from -12.5 in June, the services index dropped to -4.4 from -5.1, and the construction index declined to -20.4 from -22.8.