Eurozone economic confidence rises for fourth month

Eurozone economic confidence improved for the fourth straight month in February, survey data from the European Commission showed Wednesday.

The economic sentiment index came in at 91.1, up from 89.5 in the prior month. The reading stayed above the consensus forecast of 89.9.

Continuing the broad upward trend observed since November, industry confidence improved to -11.2 in February from -13.8 in the prior month.

Also services confidence continued the upward trend it has been following since October. The index rose to -5.4 from -7.7 in January.

Confidence in construction, meanwhile, fell to -29.8 from -28.5 in the previous month. Consumer confidence rose to -23.6 from -23.9 in the previous month.

In a separate communique, the commission said the business Climate Indicator increased by 0.36 points to -0.73 in February. The reading was better-than an expected -1.02.

The assessment of current order books, production expectations and past production improved significantly. At the same time, the assessment of the adequacy of stocks of finished products remained virtually unchanged in February.