German business confidence stabilises in November

Frankfurt

BUSINESS confidence in Germany appears to be stabilising after long months of decline, with the Ifo business climate index rising in November for the first time in seven months, data showed on Monday.

In an encouraging sign for Europe's biggest economy, and therefore the eurozone as a whole, the closely watched barometer beat expectations and rose to 104.7 points in November from 103.2 points in October, the Ifo think-tank said in a statement.

The encouraging German data helped to lift eurozone stock markets on Monday with the Frankfurt's DAX 30 rising 0.78 per cent to 9,808.67 points and the CAC 40 in Paris gaining 0.94 per cent to stand at 4,388.11. The euro was trading at US$1.2408, …