Euro zone consumer confidence improves more than expected in April

A picture illustration shows a two euro coin outside the European Parliament in Brussels November 28, 2011. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone consumer confidence rose 0.6 points month-on-month to -8.7 in April, beating market expectations, the European Commission said in its first estimate on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected an improvement to 9.0. For the whole of the 28-nation European Union, consumer confidence improved by 0.8 points to -5.8 in April against March, the Commission said. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski)