Eurozone economic sentiment hits 10-year high, signalling growth pick-up

The economic sentiment across the 19-member eurozone hit 10-year high against concerns over Brexit and a run of elections in the region, pointing to growth pick-up after years of recovery, official survey showed Thursday.

The Economic Sentiment Indicator increased markedly by 1.6 points in the single currency zone to 109.6 in April, highest since August 2007, said a monthly survey released by the European Commission.

The executive arm said the improvement came from increased confidence in overall sectors including industry, services and consumers.

April's reading was well beyond consensus forecast of almost no change and provided further evidence that Eurozone economic growth picked up at the start of the second quarter, economists said.

The data look "consistent with a sharp acceleration" in Eurozone's annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth from the 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter last year to over 2.5 percent, said Jessica Hinds, European Economist at the Capital Economics.

The commission's survey stood as well in line with the message from Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which pointed to quarterly growth of around 0.7 percent.

National statistics from Germany, France and Italy also suggested optimism of the further growth despite uncertainties brought by the impending Brexit talks and following elections in France and Germany.

"In all, today's data support our view that the Eurozone economy will expand by a healthy 2 percent or so in 2017 as a whole," said Hinds.

Along with the sentiment indicator, Eurozone's inflation, which has witnessed increases since the end of last year thanks to the energy price hiking, added pressure on the bloc's central bank's stimulus measures.

The bank, however, is widely expected not to tighten its massive asset purchasing program as core inflation stayed subdued and risks still posed on the bloc's growth. Endit