A leading indicator of Switzerland's economic activity continued to decline in February, but with a "decelerating speed", a report from the KOF Institute showed Wednesday.
The KOF economic barometer fell to 1.03 in February from an upwardly revised 1.12 in January. However, the think-tank noted that the magnitude of the decline is about half of the size observed in the last two months.
According to KOF, the barometer suggests that the outlook for the Swiss economy remained moderately positive. "The growth of Swiss Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared with the same period last year, ought to be positive but with a steadily slow pace," the institute said.
In another report released earlier today, UBS said that its consumption indicator for Switzerland slid to 1.18 from 1.32 in the previous month. According to the report, the decline was mainly due to a fall in new car registrations.
In January, new car registrations dropped by around 10 percent year-on-year, falling to 21,000. The outlook for the year as a whole also remains subdued, the report said.
It also noted that there was some positive stimulus such as significant improvement in retail industry and consumer sentiment.
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