A leading German confidence index collapsed fell dramatically in August, as the slide in the stock markets clouded the outlook for the euro zone's biggest economy.
The ZEW research institute said its German economic expectations index for August fell 25.7 points from July to plus 43.4, after falling by only 0.5 points the month earlier.
The fall is the strongest in the ZEW's German expectations index for two years.
The result is far weaker than expected by economists, who on average had forecast the index to fall to plus 67.0 points after 69.1 the month earlier.
The index for the overall economic situation in Germany fell 7.0 points to minus 78.8 points in August from July, the institute said.
The euro zone expectations index fell 23.3 points in August to plus 47.6, while the situation indicator was down 1.8 points to minus 57.4.
This month, ZEW polled 315 analysts and institutional investors.
AFP