French Business Confidence Jumps in June as Economy Fully Opens

(Bloomberg) -- French business confidence surged in June, rebounding from the lockdown damage as the economy continues to reopen.

The improvement follows figures Tuesday showing a pickup in measures of activity in the euro area and data last week that indicated the slump in France wasn’t as bad as initially expected and consumption is returning quickly. A closely watched measure of business sentiment in Germany due later on Wednesday is also expected to rise.

The French index for business confidence across sectors surged 18 points to 78 -- the sharpest increase on record, statistics agency Insee said. Measures of recent activity remained very low, but optimism for the near future increased.

Still, the measures of confidence remain well below the long term average of 100.

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