German SPD narrows gap to Merkel's conservatives in Allensbach poll

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have narrowed their gap in support to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, a monthly poll showed on Tuesday, less than six months before a federal election in Europe's biggest economy. The Allensbach poll, which is due to be published in newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Wednesday, showed Merkel's conservative bloc on 34 percent, up one percentage point compared to the previous poll from February. The SPD with their new party leader and chancellor candidate Martin Schulz gained 2,5 percentage points on the month to reach 33 percent. The poll showed the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) down 1.5 percetage points at 7 percent, the lowest in that poll since November 2015. The far-left Linke remained unchanged at 8 percent, making it the third-strongest party. The Greens stood at 7.5 percent and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) at 6.5 percent - above the 5-percent threshold needed to enter parliament. The poll was carried out between March 6-19. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber.)