German business regains confidence

German industry and trade business confidence rose for the first time after six successive months of decline, Munich-based Ifo institute reported on Friday. Based on a monthly survey of 7,000 firms in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and retailing, Ifo published its business climate index for November 2012, showing companies were more satisfied with the current situation and less pessimistic about the future. The index, a transformed mean of the balances of business current situation and expectations, climbed from 100 in October to 101.4 in November, the first rebound since March 2012. "The German economy is holding up in the face of the euro crisis," said Ifo President Hans-Werner Sinn. It was to the surprise of some economists, who had expected the index to decrease again in November to under 100. Earlier on Friday, German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) confirmed its initial report that German economy slowed further in the third quarter of 2012, with a quarter-on-quarter growth rate of 0.2 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous three months. The index for business satisfaction of current situation increased from 107.2 in October to 108.1, the first gain since June 2012. While the expectation index for the coming six months rose by 2.0 points to 95.2, a slight recovery since March this year.