2017.12.2706:28:00UTC+00Finland Business Confidence Highest Since Aug 2007

Finland's business sentiment strengthened in December to the strongest level in more than ten years, survey conducted by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK showed Wednesday.

The manufacturing confidence index climbed to 18.0 in December from 15.0 in November.

Moreover, the latest score was the the highest since August 2007, when it was 19.0.

The survey revealed that production expectations remained positive and managers forecast a widespread increase in sales figures.

The index measuring confidence in the construction sector improved to 13.0 in December from 10.0 in the preceding month.

At the same time, services confidence index dropped to 21.0 from 24.0. Despite this, the indicator stood at a high level and well above the long-term average of 13.0.

The retail trade confidence index came in at 15.0 in December versus 20.0 in November. However, the confidence remained fairly robust.