FRANKFURT – Investors in Germany have shown surprising optimism about the coming months, but their mood about the present continued to sour.
The ZEW thinktank said Tuesday that its September expectations indicator for Germany in the coming half-year rebounded to 37.3 points from 34.7 in August, when the measure fell for the first time in four months. The latest reading also strongly outpaced the market estimate of 25.0.
The ZEW said its current conditions indicator dropped to -76.4 versus the -73.6 estimate and -68.6 in August.
The thinktank’s measure for the Eurozone’s outlook ticked higher to 26.1 from 25.1, with current situation for the currency area also improving, the ZEW reported.
“Financial market experts are cautiously optimistic and the ZEW indicator has stabilised, but the economic situation has worsened,” ZEW President Achim Wambach said. “There are still considerable risks, as uncertainty about the US tariff policy and Germany’s ‘autumn of reforms’ continues,” he explained, pointing to Berlin’s plans to spend billions on defence and infrastructure.
The ZEW noted that the outlook has improved for beleaguered sectors such as automotive, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and metals, but “indicators for these industries continue to be in the negative range.”
Seeking direction
Blue chips in Germany have given up ground over the past month, with the country’s Dax 40 stock index down around 2.5% from mid-August. However, it is up more than 18% since the beginning of the year.
Last week’s September survey results from German pollster Sentix showed further concerns about Europe’s largest economy, with the headline reading down for a second straight month to its lowest mark since April as measures for the present and the next six months both declined.
And the prospect of an end to reductions in borrowing costs could also be damping optimism: the European Central Bank left its key interest rates unchanged last week, signalling that further cuts may not be coming anytime soon.
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data_array.from_react = data.from_react;
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socket.send(msg_string); }
postMessage({action: 'PublisherChannelJoined' });
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postMessage(data);
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session_info.user_agent = data.user_agent;
session_info.browser_version = data.browser_version;
session_info.cookies_enabled = data.cookies_enabled;
session_info.platform = data.platform;
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session_info.stream = data.stream;
session_info.connection_protocol = data.protocol;
session_info.delay_target = data.delay_target;
session_info.session_email = data.session_email;
session_info.remote_ip = data.remote_ip;
session_info.php_session_id = data.php_session_id;
session_info.application_name = data.application_name;
session_info.http_referrer = data.http_referrer;
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function start_log() {
var session_start_date = new Date();
session_start_time = session_start_date.getTime();
var months = ['Jan','Feb','Mar','Apr','May','Jun','Jul','Aug','Sep','Oct','Nov','Dec'];
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data_array.username = session_info.session_email;
data_array.php_session_id = session_info.php_session_id;
data_array.webrtc_protocol = '';
data_array.session_start_time = (session_start_time/1000).toFixed(0);
data_array.stream_name = session_info.stream;
data_array.session_start_date = session_start_date_string;
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function update_session_info(data) {
var data_array = {};
var msg_string = '';
var current_date = new Date();
var current_time = current_date.getTime();
session_info.protocol = data.protocol;
session_info.curr_delay = (data.effective_latency / 1000).toFixed(2);
session_info.session_length = current_time - session_start_time;
session_info.ping_time = data.ping_time;
session_info.jitter = data.jitter;
session_info.packet_loss = data.packet_loss;
session_info.effective_latency = data.effective_latency;
session_info.mean_opinion_score = data.mean_opinion_score;
session_info.restarts = data.restarts;
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data_array.player_version = session_info.player_version;
data_array.stream = session_info.stream;
data_array.restarts = session_info.restarts;
data_array.delay_target = 0;
data_array.op_sys = '';
data_array.flash_version = '';
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data_array.user_email = session_info.session_email;
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data_array.jitter = session_info.jitter;
data_array.packet_loss = session_info.packet_loss;
data_array.effective_latency = session_info.effective_latency;
data_array.mean_opinion_score = session_info.mean_opinion_score;
data_array.session_id = session_info.session_id;
msg_string = JSON.stringify(data_array);
if (socket.readyState == 1) { socket.send(msg_string); }
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data_array = {};
data_array.type = 'webrtc_log_data';
data_array.session_id = session_info.session_id;
data_array.php_session_id = session_info.php_session_id;
data_array.connection_protocol = session_info.protocol;
data_array.restarts = session_info.restarts;
data_array.threshold = 0;
data_array.curr_delay = session_info.curr_delay;
data_array.session_length = session_info.session_length;
data_array.date = current_time;
data_array.webrtc_protocol = session_info.protocol;
data_array.ping_time = session_info.ping_time;
data_array.jitter = session_info.jitter;
data_array.packet_loss = session_info.packet_loss;
data_array.effective_latency = session_info.effective_latency;
data_array.mean_opinion_score = session_info.mean_opinion_score;
data_array.stream = session_info.stream;
msg_string = JSON.stringify(data_array);
if (socket.readyState == 1) { socket.send(msg_string); }
}
socket_emits++;
if (socket_emits == 100) { socket_emits = 0; }
}
- Current conditions drop sharply
- Eurozone optimism improves
By Eric Culp, European Editor
LiveSquawk News
@eculp.bsky.social
@EricCulpLS
16 September 2025 | 09:45 GMT
The ZEW said its current conditions indicator dropped to -76.4 versus the -73.6 estimate and -68.6 in August.
The thinktank’s measure for the Eurozone’s outlook ticked higher to 26.1 from 25.1, with current situation for the currency area also improving, the ZEW reported.
“Financial market experts are cautiously optimistic and the ZEW indicator has stabilised, but the economic situation has worsened,” ZEW President Achim Wambach said. “There are still considerable risks, as uncertainty about the US tariff policy and Germany’s ‘autumn of reforms’ continues,” he explained, pointing to Berlin’s plans to spend billions on defence and infrastructure.
The ZEW noted that the outlook has improved for beleaguered sectors such as automotive, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and metals, but “indicators for these industries continue to be in the negative range.”
Seeking direction
Blue chips in Germany have given up ground over the past month, with the country’s Dax 40 stock index down around 2.5% from mid-August. However, it is up more than 18% since the beginning of the year.
Last week’s September survey results from German pollster Sentix showed further concerns about Europe’s largest economy, with the headline reading down for a second straight month to its lowest mark since April as measures for the present and the next six months both declined.
Investors may have found some hope in August’s surprisingly strong improvement in business sentiment in Germany, but the latest government collapse in neighbouring France is undoubtedly undermining optimism.
And the prospect of an end to reductions in borrowing costs could also be damping optimism: the European Central Bank left its key interest rates unchanged last week, signalling that further cuts may not be coming anytime soon.
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