Berlin (Reuters) – The morale of investors in the euro zone has dropped in April at its lowest level for more than a year, showed an investigation published on Monday, the customs duties imposed by American president Donald Trump weighing on the feeling.
The Fenix index for the euro zone fell to -19.5 in April, against -2.9 in March, its lowest level since October 2023 and lower than the forecasts of -10.0 of the analysts interviewed by Reuters.
The block of 27 is confronted with customs duties of 25% on steel, aluminum and automobile as well as so-called “reciprocal” customs duties of 20% which will come into force on Wednesday for almost all goods under the measures imposed by the Trump administration.
The survey of 1,127 investors from April 3 to 5 showed that economic expectations for the next six months have been particularly affected by the announcement of customs duties, falling by 33.8 points to reach -15.8 in April.
This is the second most important fall in the history of the data felt since 2002, exceeded only by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The current situation index recorded a slight drop, from -21.8 to -23.3 in April.
Expectations for Germany, the greatest economy in Europe, recorded an even greater drop, falling from 36.3 points to -15.8 in April.
(Written by Miranda Murray, Bertrand de Meyer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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