German business morale stagnates in February ahead of election

BERLIN (Reuters) -Business morale in Germany unexpectedly stagnated in February, a survey showed on Monday, dealing a tough hand to a future government after Sunday's election in which parties promised to lift Europe's top economy out of a perpetual downturn. The Ifo institute said its business climate index remained flat at 85.2 in February after revising the January reading up slightly to the same figure. Sunday's election delivered a win to the conservative CDU/CSU opposition of Friedrich Merz, who has promised to cut red tape, encourage investment and bring down energy prices to boost Germany's shrinking economy.