Economic sentiment in Germany returned to positive territory in June as financial market experts expect the Iran conflict to come to an end, survey results from the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, or ZEW, showed Tuesday.
The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment advanced more-than-expected to 10.5 in June from -10.2 in the previous month, the highest score in four months.
Meanwhile, the current situation index dropped to -81.0 in June from -77.8 in the previous month. The score was weaker than the forecast -77.5.
"The ZEW Indicator returns to positive territory as financial market experts expect the Iran conflict to be nearing an end," ZEW President Achim Wambach said.
"This is likely to ease the massive pressure on energy prices and inflation, which would benefit energy-intensive industries and private households and would strengthen domestic demand," Wambach said.
The survey showed that improved expectations are reflected in different industries. In the automotive sector, the expectations index rose sharply by 21.9 points. The chemical and pharmaceutical industries and the mechanical engineering sector also showed pronounced improvements.
Meanwhile, the indicator for the construction industry reported a significant decline to -12. The fall was primarily attributed to the European Central Bank's interest rate hike last week.
Economic expectations in the euro area strengthened again in June, with the economic sentiment index climbing to 9.5 from -9.1. The index was expected to rise moderately to -7.2 in June.
The assessment of the current situation remained negative as the index fell 2 points to -43.4 in June.
