The head of a leading German think tank has attacked the purchase by the ECB which got under way yesterday of corporate bonds, saying the quantitative easing measures designed to boost the eurozone economy and which involve buying debt directly from big companies was “dangerous”.

German analyst and investor sentiment rose in November for the first time in almost a year, surpassing expectations and raising hopes of an improvement in Europe’s biggest economy after it dodged recession in the third quarter.

Germany’s ZEW economic sentiment survey of investment analysts has fallen for the 10th consecutive month, adding to a string of downbeat economic data about Europe’s largest economy and the eurozone as a whole.