German business confidence falls a little

The Munich-based ifo institute reported Monday its business climate barometer for September had fallen by 0.2 points to 103.7 points, based on a poll among some 9,000 executives in Germany.

"Pointing out that the drop was only marginal, ifo President Clemens Fuest said the German economy was in a robust state despite growing uncertainties.

He said the small decline was attributable to mounting concerns in export-oriented companies as the US-China trade spat unfolded and threatened to harm the global economy.

No negative trend yet

But despite a renewed escalation of the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing, Germany's economic upswing will not get derailed," LBBW Chief Economist Uwe Burkert told Reuters.

He was convinced the recent drop in German industrial orders and weaker production were only a temporary occurrence, with the economy to shift into a higher gear again soon due to strong domestic consumption.

But DekaBank economist Andreas Scheuerle warned German companies would not be able to escape the side effects of the trade spat between the world's two largest economies.

He pointed to German firms' subsidiaries in the US and China that were directly affected by the conflict, eventually harming their investment activities.

hg/mm (AFP, Reuters)