German economy stabilising, but only slowly: Survey

Germany, Europe's top economy, is recovering from its worst recession
in 60 years, a closely watched survey suggested on Tuesday, but any
upturn is likely to be gradual and the road to recovery bumpy. The
ZEW index, which measures the confidence of financial market players
in the future health of the economy, was broadly stable in October,
dipping fractionally to 56.0 from 57.7 in September. This was well
above the long-term average of 26.7 for the series but slightly
worse than analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast.
"The assessment of the financial market experts reflects the
prevalent opinion. The economy will improve only gradually," said the
ZEW institute's president Wolfgang Franz.