German business sentiment improves in December - ZEW

German business sentiment improved a little in December, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim.

The headline ZEW investor expectations index rose to -23.3 from -36.7 in November, coming in above consensus expectations for a reading of -26.4.

The current conditions index improved to -61.4 in December from -64.5 a month earlier, but was below consensus expectations of -57.0.

ZEW President Achim Wambach said: "The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment rises again significantly in December.

"The vast majority of financial market experts expect the inflation rate to decline in the coming months. Together with the temporary stabilisation on the energy markets, this leads to a significant improvement in the economic outlook."

Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "All told, the rebound in the ZEW headline index is good news, but it remains depressed. What’s more, the index is highly volatile and only loosely related to activity data. German GDP is still more likely to have fallen than risen this quarter, and we still look for the EZ’s largest economy to enter recession by Q1 next year."