Euro Zone Investor Morale Drops, Breaking Streak of Gains in "Setback"

• Euro area investor sentiment lost its recovery trend and fell sharply in July as both the current situation and expectations worsened amid geopolitical worries, a closely watched survey showed on Monday.
• Investor morale in the euro zone broke an eight-month streak of improvements with a bigger-than-expected decline in July, a survey showed on Monday, describing the results as a "bitter setback".
• The Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence index for the euro zone fell to -7.3 points for July from 0.3 in June, which was the first positive score since February 2022, the behavioral research institute Sentix reported. The expected score was -0.6.
• The current situation index declined to -32.3 from -26.3 in June. The drop follows three consecutive months of gains. Simiarily, the expectations component lost 8.5 points, falling to 1.5 in July from 10.0 in June, a move that Sentix said was "likely to worry forecasters". "The recent recovery of the European economy has come to an abrupt end," Sentix said.
• The survey said that investors were concerned about French elections, upcoming German state elections, and uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election later this year.

(Sources: Reuters & Business Insider)