Eurozone confidence reaches four-year high

Confidence in the eurozone’s economy edged up to a new four-year high in August, as rising domestic demand marginally outweighed a worsening view of export prospects and the mood brightened, particularly in France and Spain.

The European Commission’s monthly economic sentiment indicator, published yesterday, rose to 104.2 in August, from 104.0 in July, against expectations in a Reuters poll of a slight dip to 103.8.

“The tentative increase in euro-area sentiment resulted from worsened confidence in industry being offset by improvements in the other business sectors (construction, services and, particularly, retail trade) and marginally higher consumer confidence,” the Commission said in a statement.