Eurozone PMIs signal only modest growth for 2016 – Commerzbank

By FXStreet Research Team at Commerzbank, notes that the Eurozone industrial production for January surprised positively, just like retail sales.

Key Quotes

“This is also mirrored in our surprise indicator for EMU economic activity, which seemed just about to rise again. But this should be taken with a pinch of salt: the improvement in hard data is probably related to the mild winter, and could largely reverse in Q2. In addition, we find that the improvement of the manufacturing PMI seen in 2015 has mostly reversed (with some tentative signs of stabilising lately), and the services PMI has also been edging lower since the beginning of the year.

While the weakness in the manufacturing PMI is broad based, it was the French and Italian services industries that have dragged the Eurozone aggregate lower. Against this backdrop, our economists stick to their below consensus growth forecast of 1.3% and 1.5% in 2016 and 2017 respectively.”
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Source:: FX Street