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German IFO Business Climate Index misses estimates with 74.3 in April, EUR/USD unmoved

  • German IFO Business Climate Index came in 74.3 at in April.
  • IFO Current Economic Assessment stood at 79.5 this month.
  • April German IFO Expectations Index arrived at 69.4.

The headline German IFO Business Climate Index came in at 74.3 in April, weaker than last month's 85.9 and missing the consensus estimates pointing to a reading of 80.0.

Meanwhile, the Current Economic Assessment arrived at 79.5 points in the reported month as compared to last month's 92.9 and 81.0 anticipated.

On the other hand, the IFO Expectations Index – indicating firms’ projections for the next six months, came in at 69.4 for April, down from the previous month’s 79.5 reading and worse 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 downbeat German IFO survey fails to move the euro, as the EUR/USD pair keeps its range around 1.0735, shedding 0.35% on the day.

The spot hit a new monthly low at 1.0727 in the last hour, weighed down by broad US dollar strength and EU’s failure to agree on a broad recovery plan.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

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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