German Business Confidence Down Sharply

German business confidence deteriorated sharply in October as a result of the negative effects of the high oil price and the runaway strength of the euro, a key survey showed on Thursday. The widely watched business climate index, calculated each month by the Ifo economic research institute, fell to 94.1 points in November from 95.3 points in October. The index had remained more or less stable during the preceding three months. The fall this month was much steeper than analysts had been expecting -- consensus forecasts had foreseen a fall in the index of 0.5 point. For its monthly survey, Ifo polls around 7,000 companies about their assessment of current business and their expectations for the next six months. A breakdown of the data showed that companies were feeling less confident both about the outlook for the coming months and about their current situation. The current sentiment sub-index fell to 93.8 points in November from 94.7 points in October. And the expectations sub-index also declined to 94.3 points from 95.9 points. (AFP)