German investor morale misses expectations as war weighs

German investor sentiment rose much less than expected in September, a closely watched survey showed today, underscoring the economy’s fragility as the Mideast war persists and suspected attacks on infrastructure unnerve investors. The ZEW institute’s economic expectations index edged up just 0.5 points to 34.7, the survey found, its fifth rise in a row. That was far below analyst forecasts of a 10-point increase in a poll by the financial platform FactSet. Expensive energy resulting from the US war against Iran and the near total closure of the Strait of Hormuz were weighing on sentiment, ZEW president Achim Wambach said….