Europe's economic sentiment down slightly in June

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) dropped both in the Euro Area (EA) and the European Union month-on-month in June, the EU Commission announced on Thursday.

The index in the EA fell by 0.2 points to 112.3, while in the EU it fell 0.6 points to 112.2 in June on a monthly basis, according to a commission press release.

The marginal decrease in the EA ESI resulted from stable or rising confidence in industry, services, and retail trade, and lower consumer and construction confidence, the press release said.

In the EA, industry, and services indices were flat, the retail trade index was up by 0.1 points, and consumer and construction indices posted respective declines of 0.7 and 1.5 points in June versus the previous month,.

Meanwhile, on the EU side, industry and retail trade indices were up by 0.1 and 1.4 points, while services, consumer, and construction indices saw decreases of 1 point, 1.2 points, and 0.6 points, respectively.

Italy and France saw the largest sentiment rises in the month with 1.2 point and 1 point, respectively, while the Netherlands (negative 1.8 points) and Germany (negative 0.8 points) were the worst.

"The ESI is a composite indicator made up of five sectoral confidence indicators with different weights," according to the commission.

Turkey’s economic confidence also slipped month-on-month in June, falling 3.3 percent to stand at 90.4, the Turkish Statistical Institute said early Thursday.