Euro Area’s April factory activity weakest since December

Euro Area’s manufacturing sector activity continued to shrink in April, data by S&P Global showed.

The HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI dropped to 45.6 in April, a preliminary estimate showed, from 46.1 in March. April’s PMI reading has been the lowest since December 2023.

In comparison, market consensus had pointed to an improvement to 46.5.

Still, production shrank at the slowest pace in a year, job losses eased, while manufacturing input prices continued to plummet as supply conditions improved.

However, new business and order backlogs continued to shrink at a rapid pace in April.

Meanwhile, Euro Area’s services sector registered the sharpest expansion since May 2023 in April.

The HCOB Eurozone Services PMI came in at a preliminary reading of 52.9 in April, up from 51.5 in March.

New orders grew the most since May last year, while registering expansion for a second straight month.

Employment in the sector grew the most since June last year.

The Euro was little changed on the day against the US Dollar, with the EUR/USD currency pair last trading at 1.0663.