Sweden Economic Sentiment Falls To 87.3

(RTTNews) - Sweden's economic confidence weakened for the first time in three months in April, survey results published by the National Institute of Economic Research showed on Thursday.

The economic tendency index dropped to 87.3 in April from 88.4 in the previous month.

Among sectors, only the construction indicator showed positive momentum at the start of the second quarter.

The manufacturing confidence indicator fell to 101.6 in April from 103.3. Nonetheless, it remained somewhat stronger than normal.

The retail sector confidence index decreased by 1.5 points to 79.0 in April, and the morale for the services sector dipped by 1.6 points to 90.3 amid lower demand conditions.

At the same time, the confidence indicator for the building and civil engineering industries climbed to 99.2 from 95.9 in March. Expectations for the construction market over the next year bounced back relatively strongly in April.

The consumer confidence indicator improved to an 8-month high of 65.0 in April from 63.8 in the prior month. This was supported by higher hopes for both individual financial situations and the Swedish economy.