German business sentiment rose for the third month in a row in January, beating expectations and offering further evidence that Europe's largest economy is shrugging off a sovereign debt crisis that has hammered growth in other euro zone countries.

The Munich-based Ifo think tank said yesterday its business climate index, based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 companies, rose to 108.3 in January, ahead of expectations. "The way it looks now is that the recession won't be visiting Germany," said Jens Kramer, an economist at NordLB in Hanover. - (Reuters)