Italy's consumer confidence increases in December

Italy's confidence climate indexes in December increased among consumers and dropped among businesses, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) said on Wednesday.

The ISTAT monthly survey showed the consumer sentiment grew to 111.1 points from 108.1 points in November, with the improvement being registered in all index components.

It was the highest level posted since July 2016, when the index reached 111.2.

The index among Italian households grew to 133.8 points in December from 127.6 in November.

The confidence index in manufacturing also increased to 103.5 points in December from 102.2 in the previous month, ISTAT data showed.

Manufacturing assessment on order books and production expectations improved from minus 14 to minus 12 points, and from 10 to 12 points, respectively.

However, the composite business confidence index (IESI) overall decreased to 100.3 points from 101.4.

The confidence sentiment in construction decreased to 120.4 from 124.2. Both assessments on order books/construction plans and employment expectations worsened, ISTAT stated.

The index also decreased in the market services, namely to 102.5 from 105. In this sector, "assessments and expectations on order books worsened from six to zero and from five to zero, respectively, while expectations on the general economic situation improved from three to seven," ISTAT said.

The confidence index in retail trade increased to 107.4 points from 106.5. While confidence index dropped from 108.9 to 107 in the large-scale distribution, and grew from 100.3 to 109.2 in the small and medium scale distribution. Enditem