FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German investor confidence jumped in December, buoyed by hopes that vaccines - which are expected to win approval for general use in the EU imminently - could help end the coronavirus pandemic. The ZEW institute's monthly barometer measuring economic expectations rose to 55.0 points from 39.0 points in November, after falling for two straight months.

"The announcement of imminent vaccine approvals makes financial market experts more confident about the future," said ZEW President Achim Wambach. Britain on Tuesday became the first country to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine outside a clinical trial, and potential approvals of a swathe of vaccines have galvanised optimism of a route out of the pandemic.

ZEW's figure, based on a survey of 174 financial market experts, came in well above analyst expectations. However, it did not reach the high of 77.4 points logged in September, ahead of the second wave of the pandemic.

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