Investing.com - German business confidence improved much more than expected in September, as uncertainty over Britain's vote to exit the European Union abated, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, the German research institute, Ifo said its Business Climate Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 109.5 this month, the highest level since July 2014, from a reading of 106.3 in August, above forecasts for 106.4.
The Current Assessment Index increased to 114.7 in September from 112.9 a month earlier and beating expectations for 113.0.
The Business Expectations Index, which measures attitudes toward business prospects over the next six months, climbed to 104.5 this month from 100.1 in August, compared to estimates for a reading of 100.2.
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 1.1240 from around 1.1230 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.8690 from 0.8685 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower. Germany's DAX dropped 1.6%, the EURO STOXX 50 sank 1.7%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 1.7%, while London’s FTSE 100 declined 1.1%.