German consumer morale rose for the first time in four months heading into February as a lull in the euro zone storm boosted optimism, market research group GfK said, fuelling hopes domestic demand will prop up growth.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment indicator, based on a survey of around 2,000 Germans, rose to 5.8 going into February from an upwardly revised 5.7 in January, boosted by higher income expectations and a greater willingness to make purchases. “The present calm situation on the financial markets has evidently caused German consumers to be more confident again at the start of 2013,” GfK said.

“Currently there are few negative reports relating to the sovereign debt crisis in the press so Germans are once again focusing on the generally pleasing domestic state of affairs.”

The GfK survey is the latest in a string of upbeat sentiment surveys which have shown the mood among German businesses, investors and analysts improving in January.