Berlin  - German investor confidence fell marginally in May, according to a key indicator released Tuesday by the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW).

The ZEW index declined 0.7 points to minus 41.4 points from minus 40.7 in April, the minus indicating that a majority of the analysts surveyed were pessimistic.

Many economists had predicted a slight rise in the indicator after signs that Europe's largest economy was shrugging off the effects of the global financial crisis.

Last week, the official statistics office said German gross domestic product (GDP) had risen unexpectedly sharply in the first quarter.

GDP grew 1.5 per cent in the first three months of 2008 compared to the last three months of 2007, the highest increase in 12 years and well above expectations.

German shares have also performed strongly in recent weeks, the DAX 30 index of the top 30 companies traded in Frankfurt rising from a low of 6,182 in March to around
7,170 in Tuesday morning trading. (dpa)