Turning to the continent, [B]Euro Zone Consumer Confidence[/B] is expected to rise for the fifth straight month to print at -21 in August, up from -23 in the previous month. The metric closely tracks a Morgan Stanley index of Euro Zone stock performance; indeed, the correlation now stands at a formidable 97.7% and has registered above 80% since October 2005. Equities listed on Euro Zone exchanges have added 5.7% so far this month, bolstering the case for an improvement in sentiment. The [B]Euro Zone Business Climate Indicator[/B] is likely to follow a similar trajectory: this metric is 95.1% correlated to stock performance in the currency bloc. While these results will offer little by way of new insights with traders already expecting continued recovery from the negative extremes seen at the beginning of the year, they may offer some additional fuel to continue feeding the rebound in risk appetite that began at the tail end of the New York trading session.