French PMI misses expectations with manufacturing below 50

Bund futures jump from 152.77 to a high of 153.15 on the back of the weaker-than-expected French flash PMI print. The details look soft and price pressures are showing some more signs of being close to a peak. Most of the details are downbeat but expectations and employment remained positive. Highlights form the press release:

• "The first decline in private sector new business since February 2021. This enabled companies to channel extra resources to tackling their backlogs, which fell in July for the first time in almost a year-and-a-half."
• "There was a fractional uptick in the rate of output price inflation during July, though it remained softer than May’s record. On the other hand, input prices rose to the slowest extent in five months, albeit still sharply overall."
• "Demand for French goods falling for a second month in a row and at the quickest pace since November 2020... services firms also recorded a drop in the level of incoming new business for the first time in 16 months."
• "Output expectations remained positive in July and strengthened slightly from May’s 19-month low."
• "Data pointed to sustained growth in employment across the French private sector at the start of the third quarter."