German business confidence up again, but Ukraine risk ahead

BERLIN (AP) — A closely watched survey shows that business confidence in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has picked up for the second month in a row — even though the Russia-Ukraine crisis casts a shadow over expectations. The Ifo institute said Tuesday that its monthly confidence index increased to 98.9 points in February from 96 in January. Prior to that, it had fallen for six consecutive months. The index was lifted both by managers’ significantly rosier views both of their current situation and their outlook for the next six months. The Ifo survey is based on responses from about 9,000 companies in various business sectors.