Sectoral Confidence Rises İn Services, Falls İn Retail And Construction

Sectoral confidence rose in services in January, while confidence fell in retail sales and in construction, where it has been at pessimistic levels for more than two years, according to the data released by Turkish Statistical Institute, on Monday.

Sectoral confidence indices can take value between 0 and 200. It indicates an optimistic outlook when the index is above 100, but it indicates a pessimistic outlook when it is below 100.

Seasonally adjusted services confidence index rose by 2.1 percent to optimistic level at 100.4 in January, from 98.4 for services in December.

This increase in the services confidence index stemmed from the increased number of managers evaluating an improved business situation, an increase in demand-turnover over the past three months and expecting an increase in demand-turnover over the next three months.

In services sector; business situation index, demand-turnover index and demand-turnover expectation index increased by 3.5 percent, 3 percent and 0.2 percent respectively compared to the previous month.

RETAIL TRADE MOVING TOWARDS PESSIMISTIC LEVEL

Seasonally adjusted retail trade confidence index fell by 2.7 percent to 104.2 level in January, from 107.2 in December, still remaining at optimistic level despite the fall.

This drop in the retail trade confidence index stemmed from the decreased number of managers evaluating current volume of stock as below seasonal normal and expecting an increase in business activity-sales over the next three months. The number of managers evaluating an increase in business activity-sales over the past three months increased.

In retail trade sector; current volume of stock index and business activity-sales expectation index decreased by 2.2 percent and 5.9 percent respectively while business activity-sales index increased by 0.4 percent compared to the previous month.

CONTRUCTION CONFIDENCE MOVING AWAY FROM OPTIMISTIC LEVEL

Seasonally adjusted construction confidence index decreased by 1 percent to 82.4 in January, from 83.2 in previous month, moving about 1.0 point more from the optimistic level.

This decline in the construction confidence index stemmed from the decreased number of managers expecting an increase in total employment over the next three months. The number of managers evaluating current overall order books as above seasonal normal increased.

In construction sector; total employment expectation index decreased by 2.7 percent while current overall order books index increased by 1.7 percent compared to the previous month. - Istanbul