Here come Europe's PMIs...
REUTERS/Charles Platiau France's President Francois Hollande (L) prepares to shoot an arrow during a visit to meet members of the French team for the London Olympics 2012.Eurozone purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) are rolling out in Europe this morning, giving some signal of how the bloc's economies fared in March.
The "flash" first estimate came in at 54.3 for the eurozone's services sector, above the neutral 50 level and signalling decent, if not explosive growth. This morning we'll see if the revised figures change.
Here's how the scorecard looks for the eurozone's four biggest economies (all times are London time):
- Spain: 57.3 in March, with the best employment increase registered since 2007 (56.2 in February)
- Italy: Out at 8:45 a.m. (50 in February)
- France: Out at 8:50 a.m. (52.8 expected, 52.2 in February)
- Germany: Out at 8:55 a.m. (55.3 expected, 54.7 in February)
- Eurozone: Out at 9 a.m. (54.3 expected, 53.7 in February)
We'll keep this page updated as the numbers are released.
It's all good news from Spain - here's Markit's assessment:
The end of the first quarter of 2015 saw a further sharp expansion in business activity at Spanish service providers, linked to the strongest rise in new business since July 2000...
With activity requirements rising, companies increased their staffing levels again in March. The rate of job creation quickened for the fourth successive month and was the sharpest since November 2007.