Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence Highest Since Nov. 2018; Tops Expectations

Eurozone investor confidence improved strongly in May to its highest level since November, exceeding economists' expectations, survey data from the behavioral finance research group Sentix showed on Monday.

The investor confidence index rose for a third successive month to 5.3 from -0.3 in April. Economists had forecast a score of 1.1.

"The danger of recession is thus averted, even though the expected values are still just in the negative range," the think tank said.

"The global environment made a significant contribution to this positive development," Sentix added.

The current situation index of the survey climbed sharply to 11 from 3.8.

The expectations measure rose to -0.3 from -4.3, rising for the fourth successive month. The reading was the highest since March 2018.

Investor confidence improved sharply in Germany too, with the index climbing to 7.9 in May, which is the highest since November 2018.

The current assessment index for Germany surged to 18.3 from 10.5. Expectations improved for the fourth month in a row.

"Apparently, the spark from the Chinese economy, which has recovered significantly since the start of the year, is increasingly jumping over to the export-dependent German economy," Sentix said.

Confidence improved for a fourth straight month in the US and Asia ex-Japan.