Italian business confidence edged up in November despite the ongoing weakness of manufacturing, data showed on Wednesday, while consumer morale dived to its lowest level since July 2017.
The mixed messages from the latest survey by national statistics institute ISTAT suggest Italy's near-stagnant economy is unlikely to show a significant recovery in coming months.
The data come after weeks of bickering within the government over the 2020 budget.
Consumer confidence plunged this month to 108.5, the lowest level since July 2017, from 111.5 in October. The median forecast in Reuters' survey pointed to 111.7.
Broadly Stagnant
The euro zone's third largest economy has been broadly stagnant for the last seven quarters.
Italy forecasts growth of just 0.1% over the whole of this year.
ISTAT's manufacturing confidence index fell to 98.9 in November from 99.5 in October, falling short of a median forecast of 99.8 in a Reuters survey of nine analysts.
However, ISTAT's composite business morale index, combining surveys of the manufacturing, retail, construction and services sectors, edged up to 99.1 in November from 98.9 in October.
