Investing.com - German business confidence improved to the highest level in five months in May, boosting optimism over the health of the euro zone’s largest economy, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the German research institute, Ifo said its Business Climate Index improved to a seasonally adjusted 107.7 this month from a reading of 106.6 in April, above forecasts for 106.8.
The Current Assessment Index increased to 114.2 in May from 113.2 a month earlier and beating expectations for 113.2.
The Business Expectations Index, which measures attitudes toward business prospects over the next six months, rose to 106.6 this month from 100.4 in April, compared to estimates for a reading of 100.8.
The monthly index is based on a survey of around 7,000 German firms in the manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail sectors.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1152 from around 1.1146 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7608 from 0.7602 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly higher. Germany's DAX rallied 1.1%, the EURO STOXX 50 tacked on 0.8%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.6%, while London’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.6%.