Consumer confidence declined in Italy in August while business confidence remained stable, Istat said Thursday.
    The consumer confidence index worsened in August (from 97.2 to 96.2), while the business confidence indicator remains stable at 93.6, the stats agency said.
    The negative trend in consumer confidence, the institute specifies, "sums up a general deterioration of all climates albeit with different intensities.
    The future and economic climates show the most marked decreases (from 93.9 to 92.2 and from 98.2 to 97.0 respectively); the drops in personal and current climates are more contained (in order, from 96.9 to 95.9 and from 99.7 to 99.2).
    As regards businesses, the confidence climate decreases in industry (in the manufacturing sector it falls from 87.8 to 87.4 and in construction it decreases from 102.3 to 101.3) and, above all, in retail trade (from 105.7 to 102.8).
    On the contrary, the index increases in the market services sector (from 93.8 to 95.0).
    As for the components of the consumer confidence indices, the manufacturing production expectations worsen, while expectations for orders improve; finished goods inventories are expected to have increased compared to last month.
    In construction, a negative trend in orders is combined with rising employment expectations.

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