Manufacturing (west):
Moderate confidence

In western German manufacturing the current business situation was evaluated similarly unfavourably as in the previous month. A clear improvement in the consumer durable goods was offset by a worsening in intermediate products and in capital goods. Order backlogs were again assessed a little more frequently as insufficient, and inventory pressure made itself more strongly noticeable. For the first time since the beginning of the year the business expectations revealed cautious optimism, but no impulses from foreign business are evident.