Investing.com - German economic sentiment improved for a second successive month in December, according to data released on Tuesday, easing concerns over the outlook for the euro zone's largest economy.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment jumped to 34.9 from 11.5 in November. It was the highest reading since May 2014 and easily outstripped forecasts of 20.8.
The current conditions index rose to 10.0 from 3.3 in November, compared to expectations of 5.7.
“Confidence in the German economy seems to be slowly returning among the financial market experts surveyed by ZEW. This increase is related to favourable economic conditions such as the weak euro and the low crude oil price,” ZEW President Professor Clemens Fuest said.
Separately, the ZEW index of euro zone economic sentiment rose to 31.8 this month, from 11.0 in November, outstripping expectations for a reading of 20.1.
On the index, a level above 0.0 indicates optimism, a level below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
EUR/USD was at 1.2521 from around 1.2508 ahead of the release of the data.
European stock markets also gained ground following the upbeat data. France’s CAC 40 was up 0.24%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.37%, Germany's DAX added 0.61%, while London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.55%.