By Andreas Plecko
FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)–The economic mood in the euro zone declined slightly in March. The composite index published by the European Commission for assessing economic development fell to 99.3 points from the revised 99.6 (preliminary: 99.7) in the previous month. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected the index to remain stable at 99.7 points. The indicator calculated for the entire European Union (EU) fell to 97.4 points from 97.7 in the previous month.
In the EU, the slight fall was the result of slightly lower confidence in industry, retail and construction. Sentiment in the service sector and among consumers remained virtually unchanged.
Among the largest EU economies, economic sentiment rose in Italy (up 2.0), the Netherlands (up 0.9) and France (up 0.7), while it rose in Poland (up 0.3), Spain (up 0 .1) and Germany (minus 0.1) remained largely unchanged.
Eurozone industrial confidence fell to minus 0.2 points from plus 0.5 in the previous month. Economists had only expected a decline to plus 0.4. Consumer confidence for the common currency area was reported a small decline to minus 19.2 points from minus 19.1 in the previous month. This corresponded to the first publication and also to the forecasts of economists.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 30, 2023 05:20 ET (09:20 GMT)