Eurozone manufacturing and services sectors continued to contract in April, but the rate of decline continued to slow, according to the latest flash readings from the monthly surveys of purchasing managers. The preliminary Markit euro-zone PMI rose to 40.5 from a reading of 38.3 in March, a six-month high. The April services PMI rose to 43.1 from 40.9 in March, exceeding forecasts for a reading of 41.2. April manufacturing PMI rose to 43.1 from 33.9 in March, while expectations were for a reading of 41.2. A figure of less than 50 means a majority of purchasing managers saw a drop in activity, while a reading of more than 50 signals expansion.br /br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SfA3aBFMQZI/AAAAAAAANlY/PkhmfyQQxr0/s1600-h/eurozone+composite+PMI.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327819279285633426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 228px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SfA3aBFMQZI/AAAAAAAANlY/PkhmfyQQxr0/s400/eurozone+composite+PMI.png" border="0" //abr /br /br /strongGermany/strongbr /br /Activity in German manufacturers and service sector firms dropped for an eighth ...

German investor confidence unexpectedly rose to the highest level in almost two years in March after the European Central Bank reduced borrowing costs to a record low. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations increased to minus 3.5 from minus 5.8 in February. That’s the highest reading since July 2007.br /br /br /a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/ScAmbUQyIrI/AAAAAAAANHs/ZZev5IL1gfc/s1600-h/germany+zew.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314289811034612402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/ScAmbUQyIrI/AAAAAAAANHs/ZZev5IL1gfc/s400/germany+zew.png" border="0" //abr /div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='http://res1.blogblog.com/tracker/8529397808101838812-2837750565589222534?l=germaneconomy.blogspot.com'//div

I don't know a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100sid=aywm7cc1ccK8refer=germany"whether to laugh or cry at this point/a.br /br /blockquoteGerman investor confidence jumped the most in more than 15 years in February after the government stepped up efforts to bolster the economy and the European Central Bank signaled it will cut interest rates to a record low. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations rose to minus 5.8 from minus 31 in January. That’s the biggest gain since July 1993 and the highest level since July 2007./blockquote Economists br /br /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SZqj8rC8-rI/AAAAAAAAMtM/RqjSsD7CTaU/s1600-h/zew+germany.png"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SZqj8rC8-rI/AAAAAAAAMtM/RqjSsD7CTaU/s400/zew+germany.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303731773924768434" //abr /br /br /Obviously these people are still hopelessly overoptimistic, and I can only advise people to stand well clear when the very weighty second shoe inevitably drops here.

Firm investment demand outweighs weak jewelery buying… Euro weakens on euro zone outlook… Oil prices tumble nearly 10 percent…

Gold swung into the black on Tuesday, rising more than 2 percent to a one-week high of $855.75 an ounce, amid market talk of a large order.

Firm investment demand for gold as a haven from risk is fueling buying of the precious metal, analysts said.

Spot gold was quoted at $853.00/855.00 an ounce at 1228 GMT, up from $834.55 late on Monday. Earlier it touched a low of $822.90, down more than 1 percent.

Standard Chartered analyst Daniel Smith said strong investor flows into products such as exchange-traded funds as investors sought more secure assets were offsetting weaker jewelery demand.

“People are slowly building long positions in gold and commodities more generally,” he said.

Gold managed shrugged off early weakness linked to a

...

German investor confidence fell to a record low in July as surging inflation and slowing export growth started to cloud the outlook for growth in Europe's largest economy. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations dropped to minus 63.9, the lowest since the index was first compiled in December 1991, down from minus 52.4 in June.As a stronger euro weighs on exports and the U.S. housing slump damps confidence worldwide, Germany's benchmark DAX share index has dropped 7 percent in the past month and 23 percent this year. The dollar fell to a record low against the euro again this morning, hitting $1.6038 at one point. The dollar thus extended this year's 10 percent slide following concern that confidence in the debt of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will deteriorate ...