The markets were a mixed bag on Thursday morning, so far coping relatively well with the godawful flash PMIs oozing their way out of the Eurozone.
Covering the first couple of weeks of April, France saw its flash services reading sink from 27.4 to just 10.4. The manufacturing situation wasn’t quite as dire, though that means little, as it still fell from 43.2 to 31.5. Both figures were worse than forecast.
That trend then followed in Germany, which saw services and manufacturing readings of 15.9 and 34.4 respectively. Ahead of its French cousin but, again, notably lower than expected, especially on the services side of things.
So, what will that mean for the UK? Analysts are estimating manufacturing to fall from 47.8 to 42.0, with services down from 34.5 to 28.5. If it is going the same way as its Eurozone peers, investors should maybe brace themselves for something much lower.
Nevertheless, there was little sense of panic after the bell. Instead, movement was kept to a minimum following days of oil drama. The FTSE was down 0.3%, but firmly in the middle of its recent 5700 to 5800 trading band, with the DAX drifting 0.4% lower to 10360. The CAC, meanwhile, was effectively flat at 4385.
Currently the Dow Jones futures are also looking rather timid – though between now and the US open comes the dreaded jobless claims reading, this week forecast to add another 4.35 million Americans to the unemployment line.
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