Italy's consumer confidence index declined from 96.5 to 95.2 in April 2024, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) Wednesday's data. The drop was not uniform across its components; future confidence took a hit, dropping from 97.2 to 93.9, while economic confidence also saw a decrease from 101.9 to 99.4. Personal confidence edged down from 94.6 to 93.7, contrasting with a marginal rise in current confidence from 96.0 to 96.2. Business sentiment followed suit, with the Istat Economic Sentiment Indicator (IESI) slipping from 97.0 to 95.8. Manufacturing confidence experienced a slight setback, moving from 88.4 to 87.6, primarily due to a fall in order book assessments and production expectations, as inventory levels also saw a slight reduction (balances changing from -17.1 to -19.7, from 1.0 to 0.5, and from 3.2 to 2.9, respectively). Furthermore, the construction sector's confidence weakened from 105.7 to 103.4, with negative trends in order book assessments and employment expectations (balances declining from 1.9 to 0.9 and from 9.8 to 6.2, respectively). Market services also witnessed a downturn, with the confidence index decreasing from 100.7 to 99.5 mainly due to a drop in order book assessments from 8.7 to 4.8, although business trend assessments saw a slight increase from 9.9 to 10.2 and expectations on order books remained unchanged at 3.8. Lastly, the retail trade sector's confidence index regressed from 104.5 to 103.0, with the main negative impact coming from a decline in business activity expectations (balances shifting from 24.4 to 19.8). However, the perception of current sales improved from 16.4 to 17.2, and inventory levels increased from 6.0 to 7.2.
