English

USA weak, euro zone robust

In October, the composite index for the euro zone drops slightly. This move by -0.4 down to 6.1 points is to be seen as a stabilisation, given the enormous rise of the past month. Meanwhile, the composite index for the US takes a nose-dive. Here, both the current assessment of the economic situation as well as the 6-month expectations of the surveyed investors take strong hits from the budget crisis. But the US remain the only problem child this month. The composite indices for the emerging-markets regions rise strongly. For Japan, optimism also continues to go up. As a result, the composite index for the global aggregate is able to gain ground for the third consecutive month and increases to a reading last seen in February.