Eurozone Economic Sentiment Rises More Than Forecast

(RTTNews) - Eurozone economic confidence strengthened more than expected in May as the manufacturing and retail sectors showed signs of recovery, survey data from the European Commission revealed on Tuesday.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator climbed to 94.8 from 93.8 in April. The reading was above forecast of 94.0.

The rise in the ESI was primarily driven by the improvements in the industry, retail trade sector and among consumers, with a moderate contribution also from the construction sector.

The industrial confidence index rose to -10.3 in May from -11.0 in April. This was the highest score since March 2024.

Meanwhile, confidence among service providers softened marginally in May. The services sentiment indicator posted 1.5 compared 1.6 in the prior month.

The consumer confidence index improved to -15.2, in line with flash estimate, from -16.6 a month ago.

Sentiment among retailers also strengthened in May. The corresponding sentiment index rose to -7.0 from -8.9 in April.

The contractors' sentiment index came in at a 3-month high of -3.6, up from -4.1 a month ago.

The survey showed that the employment expectations index picked up in May. The index advanced to 97.0 from 96.5 in the previous month.

ING economist Bert Colijn said the manufacturing sector is weathering the trade war storm quite well so far, but weaker services are a bigger concern for growth in the currency bloc.