German IFO Business Climate Index beats estimates with 79.5 in May, EUR/USD uninspired

German IFO Business Climate Index came in 79.5 at in May.
IFO Current Economic Assessment stood at 78.9 this month.
May German IFO Expectations Index arrived at 80.1.

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The headline German IFO Business Climate Index came in at 79.5 in May, firmer than last month's 74.2 while beating the consensus estimates pointing to a reading of 78.3.

Meanwhile, the Current Economic Assessment arrived at 78.9 points in the reported month as compared to last month's 79.4 and 80.0 anticipated.

On the other hand, the IFO Expectations Index – indicating firms’ projections for the next six months, came in at 80.1 for May, up from the previous month’s 69.4 reading and better than the market expectations of 75.0.

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 mixed German IFO survey offer any respite to the EUR bulls, as the EUR/USD pair remains in daily lows near 1.0875, shedding 0.21% on the day. Escalating US-China tensions continue to make dollar’s safe-haven status more attractive.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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