Euro zone investor morale goes down on Italy and auto industry worries

In October, investor morale in the euro zone declined more than anticipated. That’s what a poll revealed on Monday. It occurred because fears as to Italy's fiscal policies as well as tighter scrutiny of the auto industry's compliance with emissions rules put pressure on market sentiment.

In September, Sentix's index for the euro zone went down from 12 points to 11.4. The Reuters consensus estimate was for a slip to 11.7.

A sub-index measuring hopes managed to ascend a bit from -8.8 to -8.3. Besides this, a sub-index on current conditions went down from 35 to 33, reaching its lowest value since April last year.

The real cause of the minor dive in the index perhaps lies in the discussion about the car sector in Germany as well as uncertainties over the future fiscal policy of the Italian authorities, as some financial analysts point out.

German carmakers as well as the authorities came to a compromise to reduce pollution from diesel cars the previous week after environmental groups won in February that enabled cities to have older diesel vehicle banned.

The authorities have asked car makers to offer customers trade-in incentives along with hardware fixes. However, not all car manufacturers are committed to the retrofits because the hardware fixes are already known that would cost literally billions of euros and accordingly affect profit margins.

Investors also closely watch Italy, exactly where the authorities are defying the European Commission’s calls to reduce the planned budget, in line with EU regulations.

In October, a separate index tracking investor morale in Germany headed north notwithstanding soaring pressure on its huge car sector to cough up cash for costly retrofits for older diesel models as well as worries regarding the stability of Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet.

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