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LONDON, Aug 23 Reuters Weakening economies in Germany and France piled more pressure on markets on Tuesday as decadeshigh inflation and surging gas prices drag Europe towards recession, pushing the euro to a 20year low against the dollar.

The SP flash composite Purchasing Managers39; Index PMI, which tracks manufacturing and services, showed that a downturn in Germany, Europe39;s biggest economy, deepened in August due to high inflation and rising interest rates.

The PMI data also showed that the French economy contracted in August for the first time in 18 months.

The PMIs are going to feed into the pessimistic narrative, said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.

The MSCI global stock index was down 0.2.

The STOXX index of European company shares was flat as rising U.S. stock index futures helped to counter the gloomy economic news. The index has fallen for nearly a week, leaving it about 11 off its record high of January 4.

I can39;t see the Ukraine war coming to an end anytime soon, that would be the catalyst for a market rally. That is going to keep pressure on energy prices and as for the euro, the only way is down, Hewson said.

Benchmark gas prices in the European Union…