Italy business and consumer morale rise in April but manufacturers more downbeat

ROME, April 27 (Reuters) – Morale amongst Italian businesses and consumers rose in April, data showed on Thursday, but sentiment in the manufacturing sector was more downbeat as the outlook remains uncertain for the euro zone’s third largest economy.

National statistics institute ISTAT’s manufacturing confidence index fell to 103.0 in April from 104.1 the month before, coming in below a median forecast of

104.0 in a Reuters survey of 10 analysts.

However, ISTAT’s composite business morale index, combining surveys of the manufacturing, retail, construction and services sectors, rose to 110.5 in April, compared with March’s reading of 110.1.

Services and construction posted solid gains, ISTAT said.

Consumer confidence rose this month to 105.5 from 105.1 in March, exactly matching the median forecast in Reuters’ poll.

Italian gross domestic product contracted by 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from the previous three months, but Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has said it probably recovered at the start of this year.

ISTAT will release a preliminary estimate of Q1 GDP on Friday, with the median forecast in a Reuters survey of analysts pointing to a 0.2% quarter-on-quarter rise.

This month the government revised up its forecast for full-year GDP growth to 1.0% from 0.6% previously.

ISTAT gave the following data on the April manufacturing confidence survey:

APRIL MARCH FEB JAN

Overall index 103.0 104.1r 102.9r 102.8r

Orders level -8.3 -7.6r -7.8 -8.1r

Inventories 4.3 3.9 4.1 3.5r

Output outlook 6.5 8.4r 5.5r 4.9r

r=revised

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