06 April 2014
Posted in sentix Economic News

The sentix economic index (composite index) for Germany falls in April for the third time in a row. While 6-month-expectations have been dragging down the indicator over the past months, it is now also the assessment of the current situation which is not lending support to the composite index anymore. The German economy thus loses steam. The big question now is how the euro-zone economy will react to this. Still, it is looking robust: The composite index for the euro area increases, once more, slightly. But expectations are down a little for the sec-ond consecutive month. For the rest of the world sentiment is improving slightly in April. Investors are again more upbeat for the emerg-ing-markets regions after last month's Crimean crisis shock. Also do they see improvements for the US. But sor-rows are growing for Japan: Here, the composite index falls markedly for the third time in a row. 6-month-expectations for Japan's economy have now reached a level last seen in November 2012. That was exactly the time when the so-called "Abenomics" started to take effects on investors' confidence. Their positive impact has obviously faded now.

Read more...

10 March 2014
Posted in sentix Economic News

The sentix economic index (composite index) for the euro zone rises again in March and climbs from 13.3 to 13.9 points. This development is driven by investors' assessments of the current situation, while 6-month expecta-tions fall for the first time since September. For Germany, expectations decline for the third month in a row. Nevertheless, the composite index still signals that the German economy is in the middle of boom.

In the rest of the world things look rather mixed: Against the background of the Crimean crisis the sentix eco-nomic index for Eastern Europe drops strongly. But it rises for the two other emerging-markets regions, Asia ex Japan and Latin America. For the US, investors' opinions remain almost unchanged, while for Japan sentiment worsens further. The composite index for the global aggregate stays at a constant level, but the relatively high heterogeneity between countries and regions points to an increased uncertainty among investors and blurs the overall picture. 

Read more...

10 February 2014
Posted in sentix Economic News

A little surprisingly, the sentix economic index (composite index) for the euro area continues its upward trend in February, rising by 1.4 to 13.3 points. It is mainly the current situation which is assessed in a better way than in the previous month by the almost 1,000 individual and institutional investors in the sentix survey. The correspondent index now reaches positive territory for the first time since August 2011. The increase of the composite index for the euro zone is all the more remarkable as investors perceive a clear drop in economic activity on a global level. Especially for the emerging markets they become more skeptical. But also for Japan sentiment is muted. 

Read more...

05 January 2014
Posted in sentix Economic News

The composite index for the euro zone rises by 3.9 to 11.9 points in January. This increase is the strongest of a composite index in January among all surveyed countries and regions. It is also noteworthy that the assessment of the current situation for the euro zone improves markedly and has now entered neutral territory. That means that at the start of 2014 Euroland finally leaves its crisis behind it. Looking at other countries and regions, the composite index for Germany – which celebrates its fifth anniversary this month – rises slightly from 32.1 to 32.4 points. Germany thus remains the growth engine for the euro zone. The generally positive picture at the beginning of the year is only blurred by the figures for Asia ex Japan. Nevertheless, the composite index for the global aggregate increases for the sixth month in a row. 

Read more...