German ZEW current conditions index rises to -47.1 in September from -61.1

The jump is a sentiment shift, not a return to growth: the index stays deeply negative, so firms still describe conditions as poor, just less dire than before. The swing matters because ZEW's current-conditions gauge is a proxy for how Germany's industrial base is actually faring, and it feeds into expectations for the euro area's largest economy. The open question is whether this is a one-month bounce or the start of a sustained turn — the next reading, and whether it holds above this level, is what to watch.