German ZEW economic sentiment dives to -21.1 in June, a huge miss (EUR extends losses)

The German ZEW headline numbers for June showed that the economic sentiment index arrived at -21.1 versus -5.9 expectations and -2.1 last. While the sub-index current conditions figure jumped to 7.8 versus 6.0 expected and 8.2 booked previously, bettering market expectations.

ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach noted: “The sharp drop in the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment coincides with an increased uncertainty regarding the future development of the global economy and substantially worsened figures for the German economy at the beginning of the second quarter. The intensification of the conflict between the USA and China, the increased risk of a military conflict in the Middle East and the higher probability of a no-deal Brexit are all casting a shade on the global economic outlook. On top of this, German industry has been reporting worse than expected figures for production, exports and retail sales for April.”

Meanwhile, the Eurozone ZEW economic sentiment for June arrived at -20.2 vs. -3.6 expected and -1.6 last.