German investor confidence sags in Aug

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP): An indicator of investors’ view of the German economy fell to its lowest since December 2011 amid concerns about the US-China trade conflict, the chance of a disorderly Brexit and a possible competition among countries to devalue their currencies.

The ZEW institute’s indicator of economic sentiment fell to minus 44.1 points in August, down by 19.6 points from July and well below the ZEW’s long-term average of plus 21.6 points.

ZEW President Achim Wambach said Tuesday the results “show a significant worsening of the outlook for the Germany economy.” He cited the trade dispute between the US and China. Other factors included fears that countries would race to devalue their currencies and a possible disorderly exit by Britain from the European Union without a deal to ease trade.