Money Minute, Wednesday 28 August: German consumer confidence

Welcome to today's Money Minute, your 60-secondpreview of the day's most important economicissues.

One data release to watch for today is German consumer confidence.

The manufacturing sector in the eurozone's largest economy has been hit hard by the slowing Chinese economy and escalating trade tensions.

Today's consumer confidence reading will indicate how the hit to manufacturing is impacting on other areas of the economy.

When consumers start to fret about job losses and their future income, they rein in their spending which, in turn, is bad news for the services sector.

Last month the reading fell for the third month in a row, and another drop today would suggest a recession is increasingly likely to be confirmed when we eventually get third-quarter GDP figures.

In the UK, meanwhile, small-cap cafe-bar operator Loungers, which listed on Aim earlier this year, reports its full-year results today.

The sector is very much in the spotlight this week, what with last week's takeover of pub chain Greene King.

The outlook statement in particular may offer a useful snapshot of UK consumer confidence in the run-up to Brexit.