Denmark: Business confidence increases, hitting zero-point threshold in February
According to the business survey conducted by Statistics Denmark, business confidence among manufacturing firms improved in February, after briefly dropping into negative territory in January. Confidence rose from minus 3 points in January to 0 in February, reaching the threshold that separates optimism from pessimism among manufacturers.
Breaking down the components of the indicator reveals that the rebound was mainly driven by a sharp increase in production expectations, following a remarkable drop in the prior month. More firms, however, reported increases in their inventories. Moreover, manufacturers’ pessimism regarding their order books worsened in the month. According to Statistics Denmark, the data for 2018 so far indicates that the improvement in business sentiment observed throughout most of 2017 has lost traction.