German ZEW sentiment index off most in 13 years (by Sara Sjolin)

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Business expectations in Germany dropped sharply in June as jitters over the Spanish banking system and the outcome of the Greek election stirred concerns. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany sank 27.7 points to a level of minus 16.9 points in June, marking the strongest decline since October 1998. "The financial market experts' expectations are a strong warning against a too optimistic assessment of Germany's economic perspectives in the remainder of this year," said ZEW President Wolfgang Franz. "The risks of a pronounced decline in economic activity in countries with close trade ties to Germany are very clear." The assessment of the current economic situation for Germany also worsened, with the corresponding indicator dropping 10.9 points the the 33.2 points mark.