Wed, May 7 2008, 07:33 GMT
by KBC Market Research Desk
The results of the European services PMI’s in general came out in line with the ad-vanced readings published at the end of April. The EU figure was revised slightly higher from 51.8 to 52.0. The composite index came out unchanged and as expected 51.9. Regarding the individual countries, Italian services confidence improved from 48.8 to 49.8, but remains below the 50 boom-or-bust level. The French index de-clined from 54.0 to 52.8 while Germany more or less stabilised at 54.9 (from 54.6).
The euro-zone PPI in March came out in line with expectations at 0.7% M/M and 5.7% Y/Y (up from 0.7% M/M and 5.4% Y/Yin February). As the April CPI figures are already available, the figures can be considered as a bit outdated.
In the UK, activity in the services sector slowed sharply in April. The headline index of the Services PMI report dropped from 52.1 to 50.4. The consensus only ex-pected a slowdown to 51.7. Except for input prices, all sub-indices declined. The fig-ure confirms other evidence that sliding confidence and tighter credit conditions con-tinue to filter through into the broader UK economy, also in the important services sector that was an important pillar for the strong performance of the UK economy over the previous economic cycle.
Published on Wed, May 7 2008, 07:36 GMT
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