EUROZONE DATA: Oct Manuf PMI: Weak International Demand Cited
The Eurozone October final manufacturing PMI saw a small upward revision to 46.0 (vs 45.9 flash) following a four tenth upward revision in Germany to 43.0. This was the 28th consecutive month in contractionary territory. The broad strokes of the report were similar to last week's flash readings, though we note the following excerpts on international demand across the four major Eurozone economies, where Spain stands out as a positive outlier.
Germany: "The latest decrease in new orders was notably slower than that recorded the month before. This partly reflected international sales, which posted the smallest decline for five months in October".
- "Still, the respective rates of contraction remained sharp by historical standards, amid reports from panellists of headwinds to demand from economic and political uncertainty, high interest rates and troubles in the automotive sector".
France: "A considerable drag on new business wins came from abroad during October, latest HCOB data revealed, with new export orders decreasing at a considerably faster pace than in the previous month".
- "The latest reduction in international sales was among the steepest in the survey history. Geopolitical tensions were cited as a factor, in addition to global economic fragility".
Italy: "Manufacturers in Italy signalled a sharper decrease in new orders in October. The downturn was in part caused by a rapid and accelerated drop in export sales".
- "Some panellists cited reduced inflows of new business from the US, the Middle East and Europe in particular. Others blamed weakness on the international autos market"
Spain: "Underpinning the improvement in the PMI were concurrent uplifts in both production and new orders. Firms tended to attribute higher orders simply to an improvement in market demand, and this fuelled the best overall increase in new orders since May".
- "This improvement in market conditions was broad-based, with new export business rising at its best rate in nearly three years".