Economic Sentiment Indicator (Apr.....>

EUROZONE DATA: Economic Sentiment Indicator (Apr 2020) Preview 1000BST

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- Bloomberg Consensus: 75.0; Prev (Mar): 94.5 

- Markets expect the ESI to plummet to the lowest level since June 2009 in Apr,

after declining to 94.5 in March.

- Economic sentiment deteriorated sharply in Mar mainly due to a decline in

service and retail trade confidence.

- Both categories are likely to worsen further in Apr as social distancing

measures were maintained across Europe. 

- Mar data was collected between Feb 26 and Mar 23, with the majority of

responses collected before the strict containment measures were enacted. 

- This suggest that Apr's survey period started at the end of Mar and ran until

mid-Apr, covering a full period of lockdown. 

- The Ifo business sentiment index plunged to a record low in Apr as did the ZEW

current conditions for the EZ, while Expectations rebounded indicating that

financial experts expect the economy to recover in the next 6 months.