Germany's key Ifo business sentiment indicator fell for the sixth month in a row in November as fears of higher taxes again hit firms' sentiment. The Ifo economic institute said today that the headline west German business climate index fell to 87.3 from 87.7, and was up from 85.1 this time last year. However, the November reading still came in slightly ahead of forecasts, with most analysts tipping a decline to 86.9 Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn said in a statement that the economy in the western part of the country appeared to be stabilising, but said that falling business expectations remained a cause for concern
The drop in November was entirely due to a drop in manufacturing optimism, with the expectations component of the survey falling to 95.8 from 97.9 the previous month. Current conditions rose to 79.1 from 77.9 in October Analysts said ahead of release of the index that government plans to raise taxes and cut spending were likely to weigh on the mood of businesses in November //www.fxcentre.com