A measure of future economic activity in Germany rose for a fifth consecutive month in March on widespread strength among components, signalling that the growth momentum could improve in coming months, survey figures from the Conference Board revealed Wednesday.
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index rose 0.5 percent to 108.5 in March. In February, the index had risen 0.7 percent. Large positive contributions from stock prices and consumer confidence more than offset the negative contribution from new orders for investment goods, the think tank said.
The coincident index of the survey, meanwhile, declined 0.2 percent to 105.1 in March. In the previous month, the index edged up 0.1 percent. For the six-month period ending March, the index rose 0.7 percent, after no improvement over the previous six months.
"Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that the economy should continue to expand in the near-term, and the pace of growth could possibly even improve," the Conference Board said.
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