Euro zone economic sentiment edged lower for an eight consecutive month in August, pulled down by less optimism in industry and services, a monthly survey by the European Commission showed on Thursday. The Commission survey showed the economic sentiment indictor for the 19 countries sharing the euro currency eased to 111.6 points in August from 112.1 in July, continuing a downward trend started since a peak of 115.2 last December. Separately, the Commission’s business climate indictor, which helps identify the phase of the business cycle, fell to 1.22 in August from 1.30 in July, following a similar downward path ... (full story)