Germany's investor confidence deteriorated for the tenth successive month in October, turning negative for the first time since late 2012, as the economic situation is expected to worsen further.
The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment dropped to -3.6 from 6.9 in September, the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research/ZEW said. It was far worse than the zero reading forecast by economists.
The latest score was the first negative since November 2012, when the print was -15.7.
The current conditions index of the survey plunged to 3.2 from 25.4 in the previous month. Economists had forecast a reading of 15 for the month.
"Geopolitical tensions and the weak economic development in some parts of the Eurozone, which is falling short of previous expectations, are a source of persistent uncertainty. These factors are tarnishing growth expectations in Germany," ZEW President Clemens Fuest said.
"Disappointing figures concerning incoming orders, industrial production, and foreign trade have likely contributed to the growing pessimism among financial market experts."
The economic sentiment index for Eurozone also declined in October, down to 4.1 from 14.2. The current conditions measure dropped 13 points to -56.8.
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