BancaMarch: Business confidence indicators in Germany and France this morning continue to show weakness in growth in the coming months.
In Germany, the composite PMI deteriorated more than expected, falling back to 45.8 from 46.4 and below the 46.7 expected. This performance was mainly explained by a sharp drop in confidence in the German services sector (48 vs. 50.3 previously) while manufacturing continued to contract (40.7 vs. 39.6 previously).
In France, the composite PMI rebounded to 45.3 from 44.1, driven by an improvement in services confidence (46.1 vs. 44.4), but with manufacturing weakening (42.6 vs. 44.2).
All in all, negative figures, which continue to point to a further deterioration in growth in the coming months.