Eurozone private sector activity cools down in April

FXStreet (Mumbai) - As per the flash estimate, the Markit Eurozone PMI fell from 54.0 in March to a two-month low of 53.5 in April.

Manufacturing PMI cooled down to 51.9 from 52.2 in March, while the services PMI cooled down to 53.7 from 54.2 in March. Both the data missed the consensus estimates.

Overall growth of new orders moderated slightly from March’s near four-year high, although the labor market saw the strongest monthly gain in employment since August 2011. Average selling prices for goods and services continued to fall, but the rate of decline was the weakest since June 2014. Input costs rose slightly, which resulted in manufacturers’ selling prices rising for the first time since last August.

As per Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at Markit, “The weaker rate of expansion is a big disappointment, given widespread expectations that the ECB’s quantitative easing will have boosted the fledgling recovery seen at the start of the year. However, it’s too early to draw firm conclusions about whether growth is faltering again and the effectiveness of policy. Although the PMI has pulled back from March’s recent high, the index remains above the average seen in the first quarter and is indicative of the Eurozone economy growing at a reasonably robust quarterly rate of 0.4% at the start of the second quarter.”