Investing.com - German business confidence improved to the highest level since June 2011, suggesting the euro zone's biggest economy was gaining momentum, industry data showed on Monday.
The Ifo German research institute said its Business Climate Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 112.3 this month from a reading of 111.1 in February, above forecasts for 111.0.
The Current Assessment Index increased to 119.3 in March from 118.4 a month earlier and beating expectations for 118.3.
The Business Expectations Index, which measures attitudes toward business prospects over the next six months, inched up to 105.7 this month from 104.2, surpassing forecasts for a reading of 104.3.
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 1.0867 from around 1.0865 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.8643 from 0.8649 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower. Germany's DAX lost 1%, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.9%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.9%, while London’s FTSE 100 sank 1.1%.