Euro zone business activity stuck in a rut, survey shows
Euro zone composite PMI nudges up to 49.7 but misses forecasts
Stalling growth bolsters case for further ECB rate cuts
Business growth slows in Britain ahead of budget
Adds comment in paragraphs 4-5, 13; details in paragraphs 7-9, 14-15
By Jonathan Cable
LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) -Euro zone business activity stalled again this month, remaining in contractionary territory as demand from both home and abroad fell despite firms barely increasing their prices, a survey showed on Thursday.
HCOB's preliminary composite euro zone Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, nudged up to 49.7 in October from September's 49.6 but remained below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction for a second straight month.
A Reuters poll predicted a bigger lift to 49.8.
"The survey is in line with a weak economic environment with slowing inflation thanks to softening demand," said Bert Colijn at ING.
"The PMI was slightly up thanks to an easing contraction in manufacturing, hardly something to cheer about since the manufacturing sector has been in contraction since late 2022."
Even the more resilient services sector was experiencing a weakening of new orders, he noted.
The composite new business index barely increased from September's eight-month low of 47.7, coming in at 47.8. The new export business reading - which includes trade among euro zone members - was also sub-50.
Business activity in Germany, Europe's largest economy, shrank in October but less steeply than in September, according to its PMI.
In France, the currency union's second largest economy, the dominant services sector contracted at its sharpest rate in seven months, dragged down by sluggish new orders.
The PMI for Britain, outside the European Union, showed businesses reported their slowest growth in 11 months while hiring shrank for the first time this year as uncertainty ahead of the Labour government's first budget dampened confidence.
ECB RATE CUTS EYED
Thursday's PMI surveys were the first major snapshot of economic activity since the European Central Bank cut interest rates last week for the third time this year.
The central bank has recognised the deteriorating economic outlook and some policymakers have spoken about the risk of undershooting the 2% inflation target - a remarkable change in tone after a two-year campaign to rein in prices.
"We believe that today's print strengthens the case for the ECB to continue with rate cuts at the December meeting," said Paolo Grignani at Oxford Economics. "At the moment the magnitude of the cut remains uncertain, as it is still early in the quarter and there is a significant amount of data to be released."
Markets have fully priced in another quarter-point rate cut in December, in line with a Reuters poll of economists.
Euro zone government bond yields had edged lower ahead of the numbers and held down as investors received confirmation of the region's sluggish growth.
Growth in the bloc's dominant services industry slipped again and its PMI dipped to 51.2 from 51.4, confounding expectations in the Reuters poll for an increase to 51.5.
That was despite firms only marginally increasing their charges. The services output prices index was just above September's 41-month low at 52.6.
A more than two year decline in manufacturing activity in the bloc continued although wasn't as deep as in September. The factory PMI rose to 45.9 from 45.0, exceeding poll expectations for a more modest rise to 45.3.
An index measuring output bounced to 45.5 from 44.9.
However, optimism about the year ahead waned. The future output index dropped to a 12-month low of 52.3 from 53.6
Reporting by Jonathan Cable
Editing by Christina Fincher
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
