FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Aug 14 (AFP): Confidence among German investors improved sharply in August as trade tensions with the United States eased, a regular survey showed on Tuesday, but their outlook for the coming months remains clouded.
The ZEW institute's monthly barometer added 11 points to reach -13.7, more than making up for a steep slide in July.
"The agreement recently reached in the trade conflict between the European Union and the United States led to a significant increase in economic expectations for Germany," ZEW president Achim Wambach said.
"Nevertheless, the outlook is clearly less favourable than just half a year ago," he acknowledged.
The survey of 199 investors and financial analysts also found them slightly happier with the present situation in Germany.
But while economic expectations for the 19-nation eurozone improved in step with the German outlook, financial players were less satisfied with the current state of the single currency area than last month.
Tuesday's sharp improvement in investor confidence follows an official data release showing economic growth sped up between April and June, to 0.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Added to the July agreement between US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker to talk over transatlantic trade differences, the result has given analysts grounds for guarded optimism.
Elsewhere, Trump's confrontation with China risks knock-on effects on export powerhouse Germany.
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