Italy business and consumer morale pick up in January

ROME (Reuters) - Morale among Italian businesses and consumers improved unexpectedly in January, data showed on Wednesday, brightening prospects for the euro zone's third largest economy which has stalled in recent months.

National statistics institute ISTAT's composite business morale index, combining surveys of the manufacturing, retail, construction and services sectors, came in at 95.7, compared with 95.3 in December.

The sub-index measuring morale among manufacturers climbed to 86.8 from 85.9, above a median forecast of 85.5 in a Reuters survey of analysts.

This increase, coupled with a marked improvement in sentiment in the construction sector, outweighed modest declines in the retail and services sectors.

Consumer confidence rose this month to 98.2 from 96.3 in December, ISTAT said, easily beating a median forecast of 96.0 in Reuters' poll and posting the strongest reading since September.

Italian gross domestic product stagnated in the third quarter of last year from the previous three months, and ISTAT has said it expects no substantial pick up when it issues a preliminary estimate for Q4 GDP on Thursday.

The statistics bureau forecast last month that full-year 2024 growth will come in at around 0.5%, half the government's official 1.0% target.

Most analysts and forecasting institutes also expect this year's GDP expansion to be significantly below Rome's official forecast of 1.2%.

(Reporting By Gavin Jones)

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