Europe's
largest economy has shown further signs of fragility, as a key indicator of
German business confidence fell for a fifth successive month.
The
Ifo think tank's Business Climate Index dropped to 104.7, slightly below
analysts' expectations, and the lowest reading since April last year.
"The
German economy is no longer running smoothly," Ifo said, but added that it
still expected gross domestic product (GDP) to grow in 2014.
GDP
shrank by 0.2% in the last quarter.
On
Monday, Germany's central bank insisted that the country's economy remained
robust, adding that "the general economic trend should stay positive
despite the slowdown in the speed of expansion in the first half of 2014".
However,
monthly Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) figures, released on Tuesday, indicated
that
