German IFO Business Climate Index beats estimates with 96.1 in Feb, EUR/USD hits a fresh session high
|- German IFO Business Climate Index came in at 96.1 in February.
- IFO Current Economic Assessment stood at 98.9 this month.
- February German IFO Expectations Index arrived at 93.4.
The headline German IFO Business Climate Index came in at 96.1 in February, stronger than last month's 95.9 and beating the consensus estimates pointing to a reading of 95.3.
Meanwhile, the Current Economic Assessment arrived at 98.9 points in the reported month as compared to last month's 99.1 and 98.6 anticipated.
On the other hand, the IFO Expectations Index – indicating firms’ projections for the next six months, came in at 93.4 for Feb, up from previous month’s 92.9 reading and bettered market expectations of 92.2.
The IFO said that the economy seems not to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
About German IFO
The headline IFO business climate index was rebased and recalibrated in April after the IFO research Institute changed series from the base year of 2000 to the base year of 2005 as of May 2011 and then changed series to include services as of April 2018. The survey now includes 9,000 monthly survey responses from firms in the manufacturing, service sector, trade and construction.
FX implications
The upside surprise seen in the German IFO survey strengthened the recovery momentum in the euro, driving the EUR/USD pair a few pips higher to print a new session high of 1.0840, a delayed reaction.
Despite the renewed uptick, the spot remains vulnerable, in the wake of increased safe-haven demand for the US dollar amid growing concerns over the China coronavirus contagion globally.
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