German business morale rises for third month in a row

BERLIN Jan 25 (Reuters) - German business morale improved for a third consecutive month in January, adding to evidence that Europe's largest economy is rebounding after a contraction in the fourth quarter of last year.

The Munich-based Ifo think tank said on Friday its business climate index, based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 firms, rose to 104.2 in January, the highest reading since June 2012 and up from 102.4 in December.

That beat the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 40 economists for the index to climb to 103.0 and matched the highest estimate in the poll.