European markets cheer positive ZEW survey

The German DAX 30 (+0.82%), the French CAC 40 (+1.00%), the Italian FTSE MIB (+0.72%) and the Spanish IBEX 35 (+0.42%) are edging higher on Tuesday like the rest of the European equity indexes after the ZEW survey reading, quite surprising in February.

Economic sentiment in both Germany (from 31.5 to 48.2) and Eurozone (from 31.2 to 42.4) improved in February survey by ZEW, beating consensus of 35.0 and 35.5, respectively. Current situation didn't do as well, dropping from 7.1 to 5.2 in Germany, instead of rising to 9.0 as expected.

Also out is EMU construction output, contracting -1.7% on the month and falling further in December, from -4.7% to -4.8% (YoY). The Greek current account deficit narrowed from €-0.850B to €-0.534B in December.

Futures for the American S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones 30 are signaling a higher opening around +0.15% for the first trading day of the week, after being closed for holiday on Monday. US NAHB housing market index is the most interesting piece of data in today's light US calendar.