German investor sentiment rises in April: ZEW institute

(MENAFN- AFP) Investor confidence in Germany rose for the second month in a row in April as favourable economic news from China helps stabilise sentiment in Europe's biggest economy, a leading survey showed on Tuesday.

The investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute increased by 6.9 points to 11.2 points in April, the think tank said in a statement.

Analysts had projected a slightly smaller rise in the index to around 8.0 points this month.

"Surprisingly positive economic news from China seem to have improved the sentiment amongst financial market experts," said ZEW's head of international finance and financial management, Sascha Steffen.

"On balance, however, the continued poor growth in China and other important emerging markets continues to be a burden for the German export industry. Furthermore, concern about Britain's possible exit from the EU seems to be having a negative impact," Steffen added.

For the survey, ZEW questions analysts and institutional investors about their current assessment of the economic situation in Germany, as well as their expectations for the coming months.

The sub-index measuring financial market players' view of the current economic situation in Germany fell by 3.0 points to 47.7 points in April, ZEW said.