Investor sentiment rebounds in Germany

Investor sentiment in Germany rebounded in November after seven consecutive falls thanks to still resilient economic data from Europe's top economy, a leading survey said Tuesday.

The investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute rose to 10.4 points from just 1.9 points a month earlier, the think tank said in a statement.

"The outlook for the German economy is brightening towards the end of the year," said ZEW president Professor Clemens Fuest in a statement.

"Economic pessimism appears not to have increased after the terror attacks in Paris," he added, pointing to data received since Friday night's jihadist killings, the worst ever terror attacks on French soil.

"The currently high level of consumption in Germany, the recent decline in the external value of the euro, and the ongoing recovery in the United States are likely to bolster the robust development of the German economy."

For the survey, ZEW questions analysts and institutional investors about their current assessment of the economic situation in Germany, as well as their expectations for the coming months.

The sub-index measuring financial market players' view of the current economic situation in Germany was largely unchanged, declining slightly by 0.8 points to 54.4 points, ZEW said.

Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING-DiBa, said the data was a sign of "some light at the end of the tunnel".

He said ahead of the next European Central Bank rate-setting meeting, "the hope for new ECB action in December and consequently a weaker euro have clearly improved investors' optimism".

The Germany economy was currently mainly consumption-driven, amid low global oil prices, Brzeski added.

"Consumers see their disposable income increasing and -- backed by strong employment figures, higher nominal wages and low interest rates -- are finally spending it," he wrote in a note.

"However, on the other hand, weaker demand from oil-exporting countries is clearly hurting German exporters and industrial production."

Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics said the survey "shows that easing fears about the global environment led sentiment to improve in November and suggests that the Paris attacks have had little impact on sentiment so far".

But she said other data suggested "the recovery may be losing momentum" as the boosts from a weaker euro and low oil prices were fading.

"Meanwhile, there must be a risk that uncertainty surrounding the Paris attacks hits sentiment in the weeks or months ahead," wrote McKeown.