Investing.com - German economic sentiment in May deteriorated sharply to hit the lowest level since January 2013, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment tumbled by 10.1 points to 33.1 this month from April’s reading of 43.2. Analysts had expected the index to fall by 2.2 points to 41.0 in May.
The Current Conditions Index improved to 62.1 this month from 59.5 in April, beating expectations for an increase to 60.5.
Meanwhile, the index of euro zone economic sentiment dropped to 55.2 in May from 61.2 in April, disappointing expectations for a rise to 63.5.
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 turned lower against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.07% to trade at 1.3748, compared to 1.3763 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, European stock markets came off their highs. Germany's DAX inched up 0.6%, the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.15%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.1%, while London’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.2%.