The flash PMI readings from the eurozone painted a mixed picture of the economy in October, as improvements were seen in Germany but France reported a slowdown in both manufacturing and services sectors.
The French flash manufacturing PMI dipped to 44.5 instead of climbing to 44.9 during the month, reflecting a sharper pace of industry contraction, while the services PMI came in at 48.3 instead of the 49.8 consensus.
However, previous readings saw notable upgrades, as the manufacturing PMI for September was revised from 44.0 to 44.6 while the services PMI was changed from 48.3 to 49.6 to reflect slower declines in business activity than initially reported.
Link to HCOB French flash PMI for October 2024
Meanwhile, the German flash manufacturing PMI jumped from 40.6 to 42.6, outpacing the 40.7 estimate, and the flash services PMI rose from 50.6 to 51.4 to indicate a much faster pace of industry expansion.
Components of the composite report revealed that firms reported further declines in employment, even though the downturn in output eased slightly.
Link to HCOB German flash PMI for October 2024
These brought the region’s flash manufacturing PMI up from 45.0 to 49.9 versus the 45.1 consensus and the flash services PMI down from an upgraded 51.4 figure to 51.2, lower than the 51.5 estimate.
Underlying data showed that businesses reacted to a weakening demand environment by scaling down output, as new orders fell for the fifth consecutive month.
Link to HCOB Eurozone flash PMI for October 2024
Market Reactions
Euro vs. Major Currencies: 5-min
Overlay of EUR vs. Major Currencies Chart by TradingView
The euro, which already started cruising lower roughly an hour ahead of the PMI releases, staged an even steeper drop upon seeing weaker than expected results from France.
A similarly steep rally took place when Germany’s numbers both surprised to the upside, as these eased concerns of deteriorating business conditions in the region’s largest economy.
The shared currency proceeded to edge slowly higher, before getting another small pop higher when the eurozone PMI figures were printed, although it quickly retreated versus the yen and Kiwi.
EUR/USD, EUR/CAD, and EUR/CHF moved sideways in positive territory a few hours after the PMI report while EUR/GBP tumbled back to intraday lows.