German business confidence hits 6-month high in January

German business confidence rose to its highest level in six months in January as the outlook for Europe's biggest economy continues to brighten, the Ifo economic institute said Monday.
Ifo's closely watched business climate index rose to 106.7 this month from 105.5 points in December, the think tank said in a statement.
It was the third monthly rise in a row and was slightly higher than analysts' expectations.
"Companies were far more satisfied with their current business situation and the majority were also optimistic about the business outlook," said Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn.
"The German economy has gotten off to a good start to the year."
Ifo calculates its headline index on the basis of companies' assessments of current business and the outlook for the next six months.
The sub-index measuring current business rose to 111.7 points, the highest level since July 2014, and the outlook sub-index increased by 0.7 point to 102.0 points, the institute said.