The economic sentiment indicator in the Euro Area increased to a three-month high of 96.3 in March 2024, marking an uptick from February’s revised figure of 95.5 and aligning with market expectations. Notably, the gauge measuring confidence among manufacturers soared to -8.8, reaching its highest level since September 2023, while consumer confidence surged to -14.9, hitting its strongest point since February 2022. Moreover, sentiment has also improved among service providers (6.3 vs 6.0 in February) and retailers (-5.7 vs -6.6), while that among constructors was little changed (-5.6 vs -5.5). On the pricing front, the consumer inflation expectations index decreased by 3.1 points to 12.3, while the gauge for selling price expectations among manufacturers rose by 1.7 points to 5.6. Among the largest economies in the bloc, the ESI improved in France (+2.6), Italy (+1.5) and Germany (+0.9), while it deteriorated in the Netherlands (-0.7) and Spain (-0.4).
