CAPTION: Clemens Fuest, president of the ifo Institute. (picture alliance/dpa)
German business confidence slumped to a six-year low in July, according to a key indicator released on Thursday, exacerbating concerns about the outlook for Europe's biggest economy.
The Munich-based Ifo institute said its closely watched business confidence index fell to 95.7 points in July from 97.5 points the previous month.
The index - based on a survey of 9,000 executives - has been falling since March, but analysts had predicted a smaller decline to 97.2.
The mood among German manufacturers was in "freefall," and that of German executives "is growing uneasy," Ifo chief Clemens Fuest said in comments accompanying the report.
"The German economy is navigating troubled waters," Faust wrote.
"Companies were less satisfied with their current business situation and are also looking ahead with increased scepticism," Fuest said.
The release of the latest Ifo report came against the backdrop of a seemingly intractable trade war between the world's two biggest economies - the US and China – and signs that global growth is losing momentum.
Dragging the July Ifo indicator down were business leaders' expectations for the coming months, with the index's gauge measuring expectations slumping to 92.2 in July from 94 in June.
Ifo's measure of current conditions also slipped to 101.1 from 99.4.
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