Belgium’s business confidence rose slightly in April, extending the rising trend to a third month, but dampened expectations for a strong improvement, survey results from the National Bank of Belgium showed Friday.
The business confidence indicator climbed to -6.2 from -6.3 in March. Economists had expected the index to surge to -5.7.
Sentiment in the manufacturing sector improved for a third successive month with the relevant index rising to -7.3 from -8.1. The increase was largely driven by much more favorable assessments of total order books, while forecasts for demand and employment were revised downwards.
Morale strengthened in the business-related services sector as entrepreneurs retained a more positive opinion about the current level of activity. The index rose to 9 from 6.6. For the first time in four months, business expect activity to pick up over the next three months.
Business confidence weakened in the building industry, erasing the gain from last month. Downturn was witnessed not in in the trend in orders, but also in the overall assessment of order books and capacity utilization. The relevant index fell to -15.6 from -11.6.
Sentiment deteriorated in the trade industry too with the index dropping to -8.2 from -6. Businesses revised down their forecasts for orders with suppliers.
Giving an indication of the underlying economic trend, the overall smoothed synthetic curve has reached a turning point and is now back on a very slight upward path, the bank said.
Validating this view, the seasonally adjusted production capacity utilization rate rose to 80.3 percent in April from 79.7 percent in January, thus reaching its highest level for almost four years, quarterly survey figures from the bank showed.
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