Euro zone economic sentiment defied market expectations for another slight improvement and deteriorated in March, data showed today.
Sentiment was pulled down by a sharp decline in optimism in the two main sectors of the euro zone economy - industry and services.
The European Commission's monthly survey showed economic sentiment in the 20 countries sharing the euro eased to 99.3 points in March from a downwardly revised 99.6 in February.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected an improvement to 99.8 points.
Sentiment in industry slumped much more than expected to -0.2 from 0.4 in February.
In services, the biggest sector of the euro zone economy, optimism eased to 9.4 from 9.5 in February compared to expectations of a rise to 10.3.
Inflation expectations among consumers, having steadily declined since September, rebounded again to 18.9 points in March from 17.7 in February, the Commission survey showed.
But selling price expectations among manufacturers fell sharply to 18.7 in March from 23.5 in February
