Investing.com - German economic sentiment deteriorated sharply in August, hitting the lowest level since December 2012, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment tumbled by 18.5 points to 8.6 this month from July’s reading of 27.1. Analysts had expected the index to decline by 8.9 points to 18.2 in August.
The Current Conditions Index deteriorated to 44.3 this month from 61.8 in July, worse than expectations for a decline to 55.5.
The report said the decline in economic sentiment was likely connected the impact of ongoing geopolitical tensions on the German economy.
Recent economic reports have indicated that sanctions on Russia as a result of the conflict in Ukraine are acting as a drag on the German economy. Germany is Russia’s largest trading partner in Europe.
Meanwhile, the index of euro zone economic sentiment plunged to 23.7 in August from 48.1 in July, below expectations for a decline to 41.3.
On the index, a level above 0.0 indicates optimism, a level below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
Following the release of that data, the euro added to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.27% to trade at 1.3347, compared to 1.3355 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained mixed. Germany's DAX dipped 0.35%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.15%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.4%, while London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.1%.