Europe's economic sentiment drops in June

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (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 (EC) announced on Thursday.

The ESI in the EA fell by 1.9 points to 103.3, while in the EU it fell by 1.5 points to 102.3 in June on a monthly basis, according to a press release by the commission.

The index dropped in the euro area resulted from lower confidence in industry, services and among consumers, while confidence improved in retail trade and construction.

“The ESI decreased in all of the largest euro-area economies, most so in Germany (minus 2.9), followed by Italy, the Netherlands (both minus 1.5), France (minus 1.0) and Spain (minus 0.6)," it said.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

"Compared to the euro area, [in the EU] confidence in industry and services eased less, booked smaller increases in construction and deteriorated in retail trade," the commission noted.

"EU consumer and financial services confidence developed in line with the euro area," it added.

Meanwhile, the EU Commission also stressed that the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the EA dropped by 0.13 points to 0.17.

"Managers’ production expectations, as well as their views on overall and export order books and the level of stocks deteriorated. Only the assessments of past production improved," the EC said.