The ZEW index, which measures business confidence in Germany, rose by about 2.6 in the February survey to reach 54.3, below expectations that indicated a rise to 55.1. The index’s improvement in February was supported by an improvement in the assessment of the current economic situation by about 2.1 points.
On the other hand, the index related to the euro area fell to 48.6 compared to 49.4 in the January reading, while expectations were indicating a growth of about 54.4, despite the improvement of the current situation index by about 0.6 points.
The euro is trading higher at 1.1350, ignoring negative data, benefiting from the decline in the general index of the US dollar.