German consumer sentiment is set to worsen in January, market-research group GfK said Friday, amid a decline in economic and income expectations.
GfK’s forward-looking index is set to fall to 9.6 points in January from 9.7 points for December, GfK said. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast 9.8 points in January.
GfK uses three measures to derive a sentiment figure for the coming month. In December, both economic and income expectations measures went down. The propensity-to-buy measure rose, however, supported by the low or negative interest rate environment in the eurozone that discourages consumers from savings and encourages them to spend, GfK said.
The economic-outlook measure fell to minus 4.4 points in December from 1.7 points in November, GfK said, adding that the downward trend could continue.
Income expectations also declined, falling to 35.0 points from 45.5 points in the previous month, the lowest level since 30.8 points in October 2013, GfK said. The market-research group, nevertheless, said the indicator was still at a good level, supported by a healthy labor-market situation.
The propensity-to-buy measure rose to 52.2 points in December from 50.0 points in November, reaching levels of the previous year. GfK’s consumer expert Rolf Buerkl said the European Central Bank’s monetary policy is an important support for the propensity to buy.
Source: Dow Jones
