German companies lost confidence in the near-term economic outlook after resurgent coronavirus infections forced new restrictions and raised uncertainty. The country’s main gauge of business expectations slipped to 92.6 in December, falling for a sixth month, according to the Ifo institute. That’s a bigger decline than predicted by economists in a Bloomberg survey. Current conditions were also assessed as weaker than in November. The data follow a string of reports highlighting the challenges for Europe’s largest economy as it navigates a fourth pandemic wave that’s come with record numbers of cases. Service ... (full story)