By Maria Martinez
Business confidence in Germany worsened slightly in August as companies turned pessimistic over rising energy costs and fears of gas shortages.
The IFO business-climate index fell to 88.5 points in August from a revised 88.7 points in July, data from the IFO Institute showed on Thursday. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected the index to come in at 87.2.
“A bad mood hangs over the German economy,” said Ifo president Clemens Fust. German companies were somewhat dissatisfied with their current business performance and their outlook for the coming months remained unchanged, he said.
The current conditions index fell to 97.5 from 97.7 in August, while a gauge of business sentiment fell to 80.3 from 80.4.
“Uncertainty among companies is still high, and the overall German economy is expected to slow in the third quarter,” Mr. Fust said.
The Ifo index is based on a survey of nearly 9,000 companies in manufacturing, services, trade and construction.
Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com
