BRASILIA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index (ICEI) in Brazil has risen to 57.4 points in July, half a point above June, according to a survey released Thursday by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).
The figure marks the second best result this year.
The ICEI is 2.9 points above the historical average of 54.5 points in a scale ranging from zero to 100 points, where a 50-plus point indicates that industry leaders have confidence in the economic outlook.
According to the survey, the level of optimism among industrialists increased due to the improvement of the industry's expectations about companies and the economy's behavior in the next six months.
Confidence is particularly high regarding big companies, a segment in which the ICEI increased to 58.2 points in the survey.
The ICEI measures the current situation of businesses and its future prospects. The CNI consulted 2,391 companies for this survey.
