The confidence of Italian companies rises in March. This was communicated by Istat, explaining that the composite index rose to 89,5 points, from 88,2 in February, marking the fifth consecutive rise and a new high since September 2011.
The trend of the overall index reflects an improvement in the confidence of market services firms and, to a lesser extent, of manufacturing firms. On the other hand, the confidence of construction companies and those in the retail trade is decreasing.
The manufacturing business confidence index rises to 99,2 from 99,1 in February. Production expectations remain stable (the balance at 5) and assessments on order books improve (from -25 to -23). The balance relating to assessments on inventories passes from -3 to -1.
The analysis of the climate of confidence by main groupings of industries indicates an improvement in the indicator for capital goods (from 97,7 to 98,2) and a slight deterioration for consumer goods (from 99,5 to 99,4 ). For intermediate goods, the indicator remains unchanged at 100,4.
The construction business confidence climate index fell to 75,8 from 76,9 in February. Employment expectations improve (from -21 to -18), while assessments on construction orders and/or plans worsen (from -50 to -54).
The confidence climate index for services businesses continues to grow, settling at 92,4 from 90,3 in February. Expectations on the trend of the economy in general improve (from -26 to -22) and judgments on order books (from -12 to -10); On the other hand, expectations on order books slightly worsened (from -2 to -3).
In the retail trade, the confidence climate index fell to 94,6 from 96,3 in February. The index decreases in large-scale distribution (from 97,2 to 92,4), remains stable in the traditional one (at 96,3).
