Brexit Fears Send German Economic Confidence To Lowest Since 2012

Concerns over the U.K.'s Brexit referendum significantly hampered confidence in Germany's economy in July, with the ZEW survey of economic sentiment sliding to the lowest level since 2012. The indicator slumped to negative 6.8 points, down from 19.2 in June. Economists polled by FactSet had expected a reading of 6. "The Brexit vote has surprised the majority of financial market experts. Uncertainty about the vote's consequences for the German economy is largely responsible for the substantial decline in economic sentiment," said ZEW President Achim Wambach in the release. The assessment of the current economic situation also weakened, falling to 49.8 points from 54.4 points. The economic sentiment indicator for the eurozone slumped to negative 14.7 points, down 34.9 points from June.