German business morale soars to record high

German business confidence has soared to a fresh record high in November, a closely-watched survey found Friday, as companies shrugged off political uncertainty in Europe's booming top economy.

The Ifo economic institute's business climate index jumped from last month's high of 116.7 points to a historic 117.5 points in November, beating analyst expectations.

"Sentiment among German businesses is very strong," Ifo president Clemens Fuest said in a statement.

"The German economy is on track for a boom."

Businesses were slightly more pessimistic about their current economic situation than in October, the survey showed, but they expressed greater optimism about the future.

The spike in business morale comes as Germany is searching for a way out of a political impasse after weeks-long arduous coalition talks to form a new government collapsed at the weekend.

Ifo pointed out that 90 percent of the roughly 7,000 firms who took part in the survey responded before the talks broke off late Sunday between Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats.

"The first real test of how politics are currently impacting business sentiment will only come with the December Ifo index," said economist Carsten Brzeski of ING Diba bank.