BERLIN, Oct 28 - Germany's Ifo business climate index rose for the sixth month in a row in October as both expectations for the future and firms' assessments of current conditions picked up, the Ifo institute said on Tuesday. Ifo said the west German business climate index rose to 94.2 from a revised 92 in September, compared with a forecast of 92.3 in a poll . Ifo originally reported the September index at 91.9. The Munich-based think tank, which polls 7,000 firms each month for its survey, said the improvement in the index was not confined to expectations for the future but also reflected a brighter assessment of the current situation. Companies' assessments of current conditions, which are being closely watched after they deteriorated in September, rose to 81.1 from 79.2 in September. Future expectations picked up to 107.9 from 105.2. The east German business climate index rose to 104.7 from 104 as current assessments improved while expectations for the future dipped slightly.
The rise in the Ifo index came after Belgium reported an improvement in business confidence in October last week, while Italy posted a slight month-on-month fall in its main business confidence index.//