German business confidence up

A key index of German business confidence rose by more than expected in January, adding to signs that Europe's biggest economy could be gathering speed, AP reported.The Munich-based Ifo institute's survey of business executives rose to 110.6 points from 109.5 in December. Market analysts had expected an increase to 110.0."The Germany economy made a promising start to the New Year," said Hans-Werner Sinn, the institute's head.The Ifo is one of several surveys that have indicated the German economy will have a better year in 2014 after growing by only 0.4 percent last year.Economists expect growth will be helped by a recovery in the economies of the United States and several of Germany's EU trading partners, such as Spain, which is slowly recovering from a debt crisis.