Businesses, Istat: confidence falls beyond expectations in June

Tired and subdued. In June, the confidence of Italian businesses suffered a drop that exceeded expectations. In recent weeks, the business morale index rose to 100,5 from 101,1 in May (revised from 101,3). In particular, as regards the manufacturing sector, the figure decreases from 100,2 to 98,8 in capital goods, while it increases from 100,1 to 100,8 in consumer goods and from 104,7 to 105,3 in intermediate. This was revealed by the latest economic survey by Istat. For construction companies, on the other hand, the confidence climate index rose to 80,6 in May from 73,3 in April. Assessments on construction orders and plans improve, as do expectations on employment. “Order assessments worsen slightly and production expectations remain stable; the balance of responses on the level of inventories increases”, reads a note from the Institute of Statistics. In the second quarter, assessments and expectations on export turnover worsen. Reports of export barriers are also declining.