The gauge of companies' assessment of the current situation dropped to -11 points from -4 points, while the measure of expectations fell to -2 points from +1 point.

Companies reported using 94% of their capacity, on average, 2 percentage points lower than a month earlier.

The gauge of companies' propensity to make investments climbed to +25 points from +14 points, but the measure of planned changes to headcount continued to fall, reaching +5 points.