Sectoral confidence indices for January, 2012

ANKARA (A.A) - Confidence indices for retail trade and construction sectors increased 0.6 percent and 8.1 percent respectively, while services sector decreased 0.5 percent in January 2012. TurkStat said on Wednesday that the confidence index --which was 92.9 for retail trade, 81.8 for construction, and 97.7 for services in December 2011-- became 93.5, 88.4 and 97.3 respectively in January 2012.    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. The increase in the retail trade confidence index stemmed from the improvement in business activity (sales) over the next 3 months and current volume of stock. The increase in the construction confidence index stemmed from the improvement in total employment over the next 3 months. The decrease in the services confidence index stemmed from the deterioration in business situation over the past 3 months and demand (turnover) over the past 3 months.