French consumer confidence weak in March, but details weak

French consumer confidence was stable in March amid slight improvements in people's expectations for unemployment and their ability to save, the results of a survey revealed.

Households also said their finances had improved in the recent past.

INSEE's consumer confidence index was unchanged at 100.0 in March, as economists had forecast.

However, a closely-watched sub-index tracking whether the present was a good time to make big purchases fell by six points to a reading of -7.0 - an eight-month low.

"Overall, the survey continues to indicate robust private spending in the French economy," said Claus Vistesen, chief Eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, although in his opinion the details of the report were "disappointingly weak".