Summary: Euro-zone households less optimistic in October; index falls 0.8 points to -4.8; still well above long-term average; euro-zone sovereign bond yields moderately higher.
EU consumer confidence plunged during the GFC and again in 2011/12 during the European debt crisis. After bouncing back through 2013 and 2014, it fell back significantly in late 2018 but only to a level which corresponds to significant optimism among households. Following the plunge which took place in April 2020, a recovery began a month later, with household confidence returning to above-average levels in March 2021.
Consumer confidence deteriorated slightly in October according to the latest survey conducted by the European Commission. Its Consumer Confidence index recorded a reading of -4.8, slightly above the -5.0 which had been generally expected but lower than September’s figure of -4.0. The current reading is still well above the long-term average of -11.6.
Sovereign bond yields increased moderately in major euro-zone bond markets on the day. By the end of it, German and French 10-year bond yields had each gained 3bps to -0.09% and +0.25% respectively.