EUROZONE
The Eurozone's composite PMI in January recorded the best result since June 2011. According to the Markit survey of purchasing managers in the manufacturing and services sectors, the final reading came in at 52,9 points, four tenths below the flash estimate, but above December's 52,1 points.
As for the economic survey on the services sector alone, the final reading for last month shows 51,6 points, against 51,9 expected and 51,1 in December.
ITALY
In Italy, services recorded a contraction for the third consecutive month, but beat expectations. In January, the PMI index rose to 49,4 points from 47,9 in the previous month, settling just below the 50-point threshold, which marks the boundary between expansion and contraction. The figure is higher than the forecasts of economists, who had estimated a more modest increase in the index, at 48,6 points.
“Despite the decline in activity in January, the easing of the pace of contraction as well as the slight improvement in new orders are encouraging signs, which say that at least the sector is stabilizing – explains Phil Smith, economist of Markit -. In addition, business confidence in the services sector regarding the outlook for business over the next 12 months has increased at the start of the year, back to levels close to where it was before the recession.
GERMANY
Also last month, Germany's services PMI came in at 53,1 points, down from 53,6 points in December. The final composite PMI index instead reached 55,5 points, against 55,0 in December.
FRANCE
As regards France, the indicator relating to services scored 48,9 points, up on December (47,8 points). The PMI Composite index recorded 48,9 points, up on the previous month (47,3 points).
SPAIN
Services data for Spain rose to 54,9 points from 54,2 points in December, beating insiders' estimates of 54,8 points. This is the largest expansion since July 2007.
GREAT BRITAIN
Finally, outside the Eurozone, the British PMI services index compiled by Markit dropped to 58,3 points in January, from 58,8 the previous month.
