Brazil industrial confidence kicks off 2021 with first fall since last April -FGV
BRASILIA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Brazilian industrial confidence fell in January for the first time in nine months, a survey showed on Thursday, tying in with other recent data that suggest the economic recovery is losing steam.
The Fundacao Getulio Vargas's national industrial confidence index for January fell to a seasonally adjusted 111.3 from 114.9 in December, which was its highest reading in over a decade.
January's reading is still extremely high by historical standards. But as the central bank noted last week, economic uncertainty is "larger than usual", especially in the first quarter, due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the end of the government's emergency cash transfer program.
"The result reflects a less favorable outlook from business about the current economic situation and the outlook for production over the next three months, which seems to be related to the end of the emergency benefits and the spread of the pandemic," said survey manager Viviane Seda Bittencourt.
Fourteen of the 19 sectors survey showed a fall in confidence, and both the current situation and three- to six-month outlooks dimmed, FGV said.
Despite the fall in confidence, however, capacity utilization rose 0.6 percentage points to 79.9%, the highest since November 2014, it added.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
