PARIS (Reuters) – French consumer confidence levels fell in October compared to the previous month, missing market forecasts, as concerns over inflation hit sentiment.
The INSEE official statistics agency said its measure for French consumer confidence fell to 99 points in October from 101 in September. Fourteen analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a figure of 101 for the October reading.
INSEE added that its survey showed a big rise in households who felt that prices would go up.
Rising energy prices have led to a pick-up in inflation in Europe. Earlier this week, oil prices edged up to their highest levels since 2014, supported by a global supply shortage and strong demand in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer.
Data at the start of October also showed that inflation within the euro zone had hit a 13-year high in September.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Peter Graff)
