Italian Business Confidence Rises More Than Forecast

Italian business confidence rose for a second month after a recession eased in the third quarter and the nation’s borrowing costs declined.

The manufacturing-sentiment index increased to 88.9 in December from 88.5 the previous month, Rome-based national statistics institute Istat said today. Economists had predicted a reading of 88.8, according to the median of 12 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Separately, Italian borrowing costs stayed close to a two-year low at an auction of bills.