German Business Confidence Hits Record Low

The Ifo index, a widely-followed gauge of German business sentiment, dropped to a record low in December, underscoring prospects for a deepening recession in the euro-zone's largest economy.

 The Ifo index fell for the seventh
month in a row, declining to 82.6 from a reading of 85.8 in November.
Consensus expectations were for a drop to 84.1. The index is based on
a monthly survey of 7,000 German companies.

"A similarly low level of the
business climate index was last reached during the second oil crisis
at the end of 1982," said Hans-Werner Sinn, president of the Ifo
Institute at the University of Munich. "The downturn is
affecting above all the manufacturers of export and capital goods and
less, up until now, retailing and construction."