Frankfurt, April 18 (BridgeNews) - The German ICON consumer confidence index rose slightly in March to 97 points from 96 in February, but nevertheless remained in negative territory, the Nuremberg-based ICON research group said Wednesday. Consumers obviously were still in a wait-and-see mode, on the one hand expecting improvement in personal income, but also seeing future economic developments with more skepticism, it said.
* * * "Obviously consumers were still waiting, as individual indicators (within the consumer confidence index) barely changed," ICON said. Germans still expect favorable developments in their personal income in the next 12 months, and a further decline in unemployment.
On the contrary, economic developments are seen with more and more skepticism, with propensity to purchase durable goods becoming increasingly restrained, the report said.
In the rest of Europe, consumer confidence index barely changed in March.
Belgium had the highest level of consumer confidence, followed by Ireland, Finland and Sweden. Germany was still on the fourth-lowest place in a European comparison, with confidence lower only in Italy, Portugal and Greece.
An ICON index level of 100 represents a sentiment balance between optimists and pessimists.