Nuremberg, Germany - Consumer confidence in Germany was pegged lower Thursday by the GfK surveys company, which said it was abandoning its previous forecast of a full-year rise in spending of 0.5 per cent.

It said it had modified the full-year outlook in the light of the financial meltdown in the United States, and now expected 2008 household spending to turn out unchanged from 
2007.

Nuremberg-based GfK also issued a forecast of October confidence, but it cautioned that the data was based on household surveys taken before the Black Monday crisis at the US banks a week ago and the subsequent recession warnings.

The forecast for October using the proprietary GfK index was set at 1.8, a rise from 1.6 in September. (dpa)