German confidence gets a boost

business confidence unexpectedly rose for the first time in three months in April, as the euro’s retreat against the dollar since February and accelerating global growth brightened the outlook for exporters.

The Munich-based Ifo institute said its confidence index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, climbed to 96.3 from 95.4 in March. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected the index to drop to 95.2, according to the median of 41 forecasts.