Italian Consumer Confidence on the Rise

In a positive turn of events, Italy's consumer confidence index climbed to 98.8 in February, a slight increase from January's 98.2, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics (Istat) on Thursday. This improvement exceeded what analysts had anticipated, signaling a potentially brighter economic outlook for the country.

Mixed Signals Across Sectors

While the economic confidence climate index saw a decrease of 1.1 points to 100.2, and the business confidence climate index dropped by 0.9 points to 94.8, there were some sectors that showed resilience. The manufacturing confidence climate index, for instance, experienced a modest increase of 0.2 points to 87. Conversely, the construction confidence climate index fell by 0.8 points to 103.4, and the market service climate index decreased by 1.5 points to 97.5. The retail trade confidence climate index also saw a decline, dropping 2.3 points to 104.