Eurozone consumer confidence index worsened in December

According to the report from European Commission, in December 2019, the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area remained broadly unchanged (−0.04 points to −0.25). With the exception of production expectations, which improved markedly, all the components of the BCI worsened.

The European Commission also reported that in December the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) remained broadly unchanged in the euro area (+0.3 points up to 101.5)1 and was stable in the EU (at 100.0 points) In the euro area, the ESI's stabilisation resulted from markedly higher confidence in services, construction and, to a lesser extent, retail trade, while confidence worsened among consumers and remained virtually unchanged in industry. Industry confidence remained virtually stable (-0.2), as a result of managers' more optimistic production expectations being offset by the deterioration of their appraisals of the stocks of finished products and the current level of overall order books. The strong increase in services confidence (+2.2) was driven by managers' more optimistic views on all three components, i.e. the past business situation, past demand and expected demand. The decline in consumer confidence (-0.9) reflected a decline in expectations concerning households' financial conditions and the general economic situation, while households' assessments of past financial conditions and their intentions to make major purchases remained broadly stable. The increase in retail trade confidence (+1.0) was due to retailers' more positive views on the present and, to a lesser extent, expected business situation and a stable perceived adequacy of the volume of stocks. The marked increase in construction confidence (+2.2) was fuelled by managers' more optimistic employment expectations and assessment of the level of order books. Finally, financial services confidence (not included in the ESI) rose (+1.6).