Euro confidence tumbles in August

EUROPEAN confidence in the economic outlook in August plunged the most since December 2008 as a persistent debt crisis roiled markets and clouded growth prospects across the 17-nation eurozone.

An index of executive and consumer sentiment in the single-currency region fell to 98.3 from a revised 103 in July, the European Commission in Brussels said yesterday.

That is the lowest level since May 2010. Economists had forecast a decline to 100.2.