Street Journal. (DJN) Confidence among German consumers is set to improve in February for a fourth straight month, helped by better expectations for the economy and personal finances amid lower energy prices and easing concerns of a recession. Germany's forward-looking consumer-sentiment index forecasts confidence rising to minus 33.9 in February from minus 37.6 in January, data from market-research group GfK showed. (DJN) Confidence among French manufacturing firms improved in January for a second consecutive month, increasing to 103 in January from 102 in December, exceeding its long-term average, according to data from the country's national statistics office. Economists polled by the Journal expected confidence at 102. (DJN) Australian business output contracted for a fourth straight month in January as the impact of sharp interest rate increases since May of last year weakens confidence across the economy. The Judo Bank Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index climbed from 47.5 in December to 48.2 in January. While private sector output continues to contract, the pace of the retreat was the slowest in three months. (DJN) The Bank of Thailand is expected to raise its benchmark one-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 1.50% on Wednesday, according to seven economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. All seven expect the central bank to increase its policy rate by a quarter percentage point. (DJN) Feedback Loop

This newsletter is compiled by James Christie in San Francisco.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-24-23 0718ET