Germany Ifo Business Confidence Key Focus in European Economic News

23 Mar, 2024

Germany Ifo Business Confidence Key Focus in European Economic News

Business sentiment survey results from Germany and retail sales from the UK will be closely watched this Friday, as they take the spotlight in a flurry of European economic news.

Commencing at 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics will unveil UK retail sales data for February. Analysts anticipate a 0.4 percent decline in sales compared to January's notable 3.4 percent increase.

Simultaneously, import price data from Germany is set to be released. Forecasts predict a 7.4 percent annual decrease in import prices for January, following an 8.5 percent drop in December.

Moving to 4.00 am ET, Germany’s highly anticipated ifo business confidence survey results will be announced. Expectations are for a modest uptick in the business confidence index to 85.9 in March, up from 85.5 the previous month.

Later, at 6.30 am ET, Russia’s central bank will disclose its monetary policy decision, with analysts widely predicting the retention of the benchmark rate at 16.00 percent.

Concluding the morning's releases, at 7.00 am ET, the Confederation of British Industry will publish its Industrial Trends survey results. Forecasts suggest the order book balance will hold steady at -20 percent in March