German business confidence has fallen to its lowest level for at least 18 years after a precipitous decline in industrial orders late last year, even as emergency government action to save Europe’s largest economy took effect.The Munich-based Ifo institute said on Tuesday its closely watched business -climate index slipped from 83.0 in January to 82.6 in February. That dashed hopes raised by a small rise last month and took the index to its lowest since records began in January 1991.
Although Germany did not have a housing bubble or problems formed by over-indebted consumers as in the US and UK, it has become one of the worst-affected large industrial nations as a result of its heavy reliance on global demand for its products.
Economists fear that Germany is particularly exposed to the turmoil that has affected eastern Europe as the region – including Russia – is more important as an export destination than the US. Jörg Krämer, chief economist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said the Lehman Brothers investment bank failure last year showed the industrial sector would also be vulnerable to an intensification of the financial crisis affecting eastern Europe. “The main trigger now is uncertainty,” he said.
Across the 16-country eurozone, industrial orders fell sharply by 5.2 per cent in December compared with November, Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, said on Tuesday. Compared with the same month a year before, they were 22.3 per cent lower. Germany reported an above-average 9 per cent fall in December but Ireland fared even worse, reporting a 12.2 per cent fall.
Ifo reported German businesses’ assessment of conditions had deteriorated sharply in February. By contrast, the part of the survey gauging confidence about the next six months rose for the second consecutive month to its highest since October last year. Ifo cited a rebound in optimism by car dealers thanks to subsidies Berlin is to offer Germans who trade-in old vehicles.
Thomas Köbel, an economist at SEB bank in Frankfurt, said the apparently improved domestic conditions gave little cheer given gloomy global prospects: “German companies don’t have much to be confident about.”
Hans-Werner Sinn, Ifo’s president, said: “On the whole, the survey results do not signal a cyclical turning point.”
.gif)
[SigmaForex Money Manager]
With preferential rating access to Sigma’s research staff, sophisticated trading platform and reporting tools, Sigma’s money manager solution is one of the most competitive in the marketplace.
Sigma provides a dedicated team of account management specialists to provide ongoing back-office support, and help reduce your administrative responsibilities.
Highly developed trading platform
Our trading platform feature quality execution capabilities as well as advanced and easy-to-use order entry and position management tools, all in a secure friendly environment. A full suite of decision support tools, from charting to research, news and more, are also available to clients all for free.
Characteristic tools
Our proprietary tool offers money managers a comprehensive and efficient way to manage pooled customer funds and track portfolio performance. Accessible online, the system automatically journals percentages of your transactions from your Master account into your client's sub accounts at the close of each trade.
We also support the needs of money managers who wish to execute trades and place orders on a per account basis. Reporting capabilities are available directly within the application, as well as real-time margin and P&L.
Back-office support
Our Partner Services team is dedicated to providing full account management support to our money managers and your clients. Our customer support is 24 hours, customers may fund around the clock. Sigma’s Partner Services team is dedicated to providing Outstanding Compensation and full account management support.
For more details contcat MM@SigmaForex.com
.gif)
No comments:
Post a Comment