Eurozone consumer confidence index continued to improve in June

According to the report from European Commission, in June 2020, the recovery of the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI), which had tentatively started in May, intensified. Registering the sharpest month on-month increase on record in the euro area (+8.2 points up to 75.7) and the EU (+8.1 points up to 74.8), the ESI in both regions has so far recovered some 30% of the combinedlosses of March and April. Also the Employment Expectations Indicator (EEI) improved sharply for the second month in a row (by 12.7 points to 82.8 in the euro area and by 11.9 points to 82.7 in the EU).

Industry confidence continued last month’s forceful recovery (+5.8), driven by another hefty improvement in production expectations, which are now almost back to their February level. After its record slide over the last three months, services confidence rebounded (+8.0), thanks to a second month of rallying demand expectations, which were, this time around, coupled with a comparatively small deterioration of past demand and assessments of the past business situation edging up.  The latter hints at the expected recovery starting to gain traction. Consumer confidence (+4.1) continued last month’s recovery on the back of households’ much improved expectations in respect of their financial situation, their intentions to make major purchases and, particularly, the general economic situation. Same as in May, households’ assessments of their past financial situation deteriorated, but on a much smaller scale. Retail trade confidence bounced back (+10.4) from rock bottom, thanks to managers’ drastically improved business expectations and views on the adequacy of the volume of stocks, as well as, to a lesser extent, more benign appraisals of the present business situation. Construction confidence rebounded (+4.9), as managers’ employment expectations recovered markedly and their assessments of the level of order

books improved moderately. Finally, financial services confidence (not included in the ESI) booked sharp increases, reverting some 40% of the confidence crunch experienced between February and April. The surge was driven by all components of the indicator, i.e. assessments of the past business situation and past demand, as well as managers' demand expectations