After a series of three consecutive increases, business confidence falls again in October. The composite index of the confidence climate of Italian businesses (Iesi, Istat economic sentiment indicator), expressed on the basis of 2005=100, in fact, recorded a decline from 82,8 points in September to 79,3.
In the general calculation, the drop in business confidence in the retail trade and market services weighs heavily. Conversely, the confidence of manufacturing firms (from 96,8 to 97,3) and construction firms (from 78,9 to 80,8) increased.
The analysis of the climate of confidence by main groupings of industries (Rpi) indicates an improvement in the indicator in consumer goods (from 96,2 to 97,1), in intermediate goods (from 98,2 to 99,0) and in capital goods (from 94,8 to 95,0).
On the other hand, the decline in the confidence climate of service businesses was very sharp, with the index falling from 79,9 in September to 74,7. Assessments and expectations on order books worsen (from -26 to -31 and from -8 to -18, respectively), while the balance of expectations on the general economic trend remains stable (at -37).
In the retail trade, the confidence climate index fell from 91,8 in September to 89,0, a decline that involved traditional distribution to a greater extent (from 94,4 to 90,6) than large-scale distribution (from 88,6 to 87,7).
