Italy’s Consumer Confidence Rose and Manufacturing Fell
World Economies Show Pessimism at the Beginning of December
Italy consumer confidence rose to 118.4 in November
Italy’s consumer confidence rose by 1.2% to 118.4 in November compared to an upwardly revised 117.0 in October 2015. With consumer confidence rising, the iShares MSCI Italy Capped (EWI) rose by 1.1% as of November 27. EWI fell by 4.1% over the past month as of November 27. Consumer discretionary stocks like Natuzzi (NTZ), Luxottica Group (LUX), and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAM) fell by 5.0%, 6.2%, and 2.5%, respectively, over the same period. In contrast, energy stock Enersis (ENI) fell by 8.0% over the past month as of November 27.
All of the components rose in November
The rise in the consumer confidence was due to a rise all of the components like economic, personal, current, and future. They rose from 153.3 to 158.3, from 103.9 to 105.0, from 109.3 to 111.6, and from 127.2 to 128.0, respectively. They rose by 3.3%, 1.1%, 2.1%, and 0.63%, respectively.
Economic sentiment indicator was 107.1 in November
Business confidence stood at 107.1 in November—compared to 107.0 in October 2015. The negligible rise in the business confidence was mainly due to a fall in manufacturing from 105.7 to 104.6 in November. In manufacturing, the assessments on orderbooks and production expectations fell from -10 to -11 and from 14 to 13, respectively. The inventories remained stable at three. Industrial stocks like Atlantia (ATASY) fell by 6.3%. In contrast, Finmeccanica (FINMY) rose by 5.7% over the past month as of November 27.
Market services stayed at 113.7 in November
The construction confidence improved to 121.4. The assessments on orderbooks and construction plans improved. The market services confidence index rose from 113.1 to 113.7. The index saw a rise in tourism services, information, communication and business services, and other services. However, it fell in transportation and storage. Telecom Italia (TI) rose by 3.1% over the past month as of November 27.
Large scale retailers saw more confidence in November
The retail trade confidence index fell to 115.0 in November from 116.3. The confidence rose in the large scale distribution while it decreased in small and medium scale distribution.
Although consumer confidence rose in Italy, the business confidence staying lower may act as a spoilsport for the economy. It’s struggling to revive its growth.
Germany also released its retail sales data. We’ll discuss the data in the next part of this series.
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