Eurozone economic sentiment index fell sharply in September

According to the report from European Commission, in September 2019, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased markedly in both the euro area (by 1.4 points to 101.7, lowest level in nearly five years) and the EU (by 1.4 points to the long-term average of 100.0).

The decrease in euro-area sentiment resulted from a substantial deterioration of confidence in industry, and a slight decline in retail trade, while confidence improved among consumers and remained broadly stable in services and construction.

The sharp decline in industry confidence (-3.0) resulted from managers' markedly more pessimistic views on all three components, i.e. production expectations, the current level of overall order books and the stocks of finished products. Broadly unchanged services confidence (+0.3) resulted from managers' slightly more optimistic views on past demand and virtually unchanged assessments of the past business situation and their demand expectations. The slight increase in consumer confidence (+0.6) reflected households’ more positive expectations about the general economic situation and, to a lesser extent, their own financial situation, while their assessment of their past financial situation and intentions to make major purchases remained broadly stable. The slight decline in retail trade confidence (-0.5) was driven by markedly more cautious views on the adequacy of the volume of stocks. Virtually unchanged construction confidence (-0.1) resulted from managers' slightly more negative assessment of the level of order books and broadly stable employment expectations. Finally, financial services confidence (not included in the ESI) increased markedly (+6.3), reflecting strong improvement in all its three components, i.e. managers' assessment of the past business situation and past and expected demand.