German Gfk consumer climate rises to 6-year high in December

Germany's consumer climate for December rose to the highest level since August 2007, fuelling optimism over the health of the euro zone’s largest economy, industry data showed on Wednesday. 

In a report, market research group Gfk said its index of Germany's consumer climate rose by 0.3 points to 7.4 in December from 7.1 in November, whose figure was revised up from a reading of 7.0. 

Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged at 7.1 in December. 

The report said that economic and income expectations registered considerable increases and willingness to buy reached a seven-year high.

Following the release of the data, the euro added to modest gains against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD inching up 0.15% to trade at 1.3594 from 1.3587 ahead of the data. 

Meanwhile, European stock markets remained higher. The EURO STOXX 50 added 0.1%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.2%, the FTSE 100 edged up 0.2%, while Germany's DAX tacked on 0.15%.