By Margit Feher
MANNHEIM--German economic expectations in June fell at the fastest
rate in more than a decade, reflecting the view that Greek repeat
parliamentary elections only provided a brief respite and that the
situation in the euro zone is "still precarious," the Center for
European Economic Research, also known as ZEW, said Tuesday.
The economic expectations index fell to -16.9 in June from May's
unrevised 10.8. The last time the decline in the indicator was this
great was in October 1998. Experts in a poll by Dow Jones Newswires
had expected a fall to 2.8 for June.
The widely watched ZEW index fell again in June after improving
sharply in recent months. After declining for nine months on the
deepening of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the index turned negative
in June after turning positive in February.
ZEW said the decline is a warning that optimism over Germany's economy
is still premature as its main trading partners are experiencing an
economic downturn.
The current conditions index fell to +33.2 from May's unrevised 44.1.
Experts had forecast a reading of 39.0 for June.
ZEW polled 274 analysts and institutional investors for its June poll.
Write to Margit Feher at margit.feher@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 19, 2012 05:25 ET (09:25 GMT)
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