Europe Economic Confidence Holds Near Three-Year Peak

European confidence in the economic outlook held close to the highest in more than three years in January as manufacturers became more optimistic.

An index of executive and consumer sentiment in the euro area slipped to 106.5 from a revised 106.6 in December, the European Commission in Brussels said today. The December reading was the highest since September 2007. Economists had forecast a gain to 106.7, the median of 25 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed.