FRANKFURT –– The mood among business leaders in Europe’s largest economy has improved from its lowest level in nearly six years, but the slight increase was not enough to spur the uncorking of champagne bottles.
Germany’s Ifo economics institute said Friday that its May survey of domestic companies produced a rise in its headline business climate index to 84.9 points versus the market estimate of 84.2 and an upwardly revised 84.5 reading last month, which was the lowest since May 2020.
“The German economy is stabilising for the time being, although the situation remains fragile,” the thinktank warned.
EUR/USD continued to trade just above 1.16 following the report.
Ifo reported that its May expectations component for the coming six months improved to 83.8 points compared to 83.5, the market forecast and April’s upwardly revised result.
The current conditions measure climbed to 86.1 points to outpace both the 85.1 estimate and last month’s mark of 85.4.
The institute noted that its business climate indices improved for manufacturing, services, and trade, but declined for construction.
Source: Ifo
Fits and starts
Despite Friday’s uptick in business confidence, recent economic indicators suggest Europe’s largest economy is struggling.
Purchasing managers offered minimal optimism Thursday, with the composite PMI improving when an unchanged reading was expected. But the 48.6 result kept the mark in contraction territory below the 50-point line.
Support for the overall number came from services, which rose from a multi-year low to 47.8, thus still shrinking.
The manufacturing side slipped to a four-month low of 49.9, also in contraction territory. Industrial production in a range of countries has been buoyed by the war due to stockpiling ahead of further possible price surges and supply chain issues due to the conflict.
Last week German investors surprised analysts when the ZEW thinktank’s expectations indicator for the next six months improved in May. Experts had forecast a decline.
However, German private consumption in the first quarter was flat versus the previous three months. The market had expected a rise of 0.2% after the 0.6% improvement in Q4.
And economists continue to slash their growth outlook for the world’s fourth-largest economy. The latest downgrade came this week from the EU, which halved its GDP growth expectations for Germany this year to 0.6%. Berlin recently lowered that number to 0.5%.
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- Ifo: “situation remains fragile”
- Growth concerns mount
By Eric Culp, European Editor
LiveSquawk News
@eculp.bsky.social
@EricCulpLS
22 May 2026 | 09:55 GMT
FRANKFURT –– The mood among business leaders in Europe’s largest economy has improved from its lowest level in nearly six years, but the slight increase was not enough to spur the uncorking of champagne bottles.
Germany’s Ifo economics institute said Friday that its May survey of domestic companies produced a rise in its headline business climate index to 84.9 points versus the market estimate of 84.2 and an upwardly revised 84.5 reading last month, which was the lowest since May 2020.
“The German economy is stabilising for the time being, although the situation remains fragile,” the thinktank warned.
EUR/USD continued to trade just above 1.16 following the report.
Ifo reported that its May expectations component for the coming six months improved to 83.8 points compared to 83.5, the market forecast and April’s upwardly revised result.
The current conditions measure climbed to 86.1 points to outpace both the 85.1 estimate and last month’s mark of 85.4.
The institute noted that its business climate indices improved for manufacturing, services, and trade, but declined for construction.
Fits and starts
Despite Friday’s uptick in business confidence, recent economic indicators suggest Europe’s largest economy is struggling.
Purchasing managers offered minimal optimism Thursday, with the composite PMI improving when an unchanged reading was expected. But the 48.6 result kept the mark in contraction territory below the 50-point line.
Support for the overall number came from services, which rose from a multi-year low to 47.8, thus still shrinking.
The manufacturing side slipped to a four-month low of 49.9, also in contraction territory. Industrial production in a range of countries has been buoyed by the war due to stockpiling ahead of further possible price surges and supply chain issues due to the conflict.
Last week German investors surprised analysts when the ZEW thinktank’s expectations indicator for the next six months improved in May. Experts had forecast a decline.
However, German private consumption in the first quarter was flat versus the previous three months. The market had expected a rise of 0.2% after the 0.6% improvement in Q4.
And economists continue to slash their growth outlook for the world’s fourth-largest economy. The latest downgrade came this week from the EU, which halved its GDP growth expectations for Germany this year to 0.6%. Berlin recently lowered that number to 0.5%.
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