Upbeat German consumers

There was little sign of Brexit uncertainty and worries over terror attacks in a fresh monthly survey Friday from market research company GfK.

Its closely watched headline consumer confidence index even rose in August, albeit only marginally by 0.2 points to reach 10.2 points. The latest reading hit levels not seen since October 2001, the Nuremberg-based researchers noted.

"Sentiment developed positively overall and apparently digested the Brexit shock well," GfK expert Rolf Bürkl said in a statement.

Rosy outlook

Throughout the year, Bürkl expects consumption to increase by 2 percent in Europe's powerhouse. This would make it an important, if not the most important pillar of GDP growth again in 2016.

Gfk's poll among 2,000 consumers across the country revealed that people were willing to spend a lot more on big-ticket items against the background of a continuously robust labor market and employees not worried about losing their jobs any time soon.

In addition, Germans' spending mood had been fueled by rising wages in many key industries as well as rising pensions. Coupled with record-low inflation, it leaves more in people's pockets at the end of the day, GfK points out.

"The situation is not going to change soon," Rolf Bürkl commented, prompting GfK to pencil in another slight increase in its benchmark sentiment index for September.

hg/uhe (Reuters, dpa, AFP)