Euro zone business climate hits 15-year low in November

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The euro zone's business climate indicator (BCI) fell to its lowest in more than 15 years in November, European Commission data showed on Thursday.

The indicator, which points to the phase of the business cycle, fell to minus 2.14 points from October's minus 1.34 points. The market had expected a reading of minus 1.5.

The indicator now stands close to levels last seen in 1993.

"The continued steep decline of the indicator signals a deteriorating trend in year-on-year industrial production growth, which is likely to continue to be negative even in the fourth quarter," the Commission said.

"All five underlying components of the BCI deteriorated. Managers reported a sharp fall in the production trend observed in recent months while stocks of finished goods increased," it said in a statement.

"Their assessment of the current overall order book and export order book is increasingly negative. Looking ahead, production expectations in the euro area worsened notably compared to last month," it said.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)