Forexpros – Economic sentiment in Switzerland dropped significantly in July, plunging by 34.6 points to the lowest level since January 2009, data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said its indicator of economic sentiment tumbled to minus 58.9 in July, compared to a reading of minus 24.3 in June.
A reading above 0.0 on the indicator indicates optimism, while a score below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
According to the data, the indicator for the assessment of the current economic situation in Switzerland fell by 17.4 points to 52.9.
Expectations regarding inflation and interest rates also declined in July. Only 23.5% of the financial market experts surveyed forecast an advancing inflation rate on a six-month horizon.
The share of respondents who expect interest rates to advance in the same timeframe fell to 27.3%.
Following the release of the data, the Swiss franc was down against the U.S. dollar, with USD/CHF rising 0.43% to trade at 0.8234.
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