PREVIOUS TRADING DAY EVENTS 23 August 2023

The PMI data were devastating for all regions according to the reports and figures yesterday.

Business activity declined heavily for the Eurozone, which was far more than expected in August with a particularly fast slide in Germany.

The continuing sharp drop in the PMI data will test the ECBs growth optimism, said Mark Wall, chief European economist at Deutsche Bank.

We are expecting the ECB to pause in September, but it is not clear that inflation is where the ECB wants it yet. A pause should not be misinterpreted as the peak.

The data suggest that business activity in the services industry declined significantly for the first time this year and the contraction in manufacturing output continued, although there were some higher than previously reported figures for factory activity.

Business activity in Germany, Europes largest economy, contracted at the fastest pace for more than three years as a deepening downturn in manufacturing output was accompanied by a renewed contraction in services.

In France, the dominant services sector contracted as well. 

Britains economy, outside the European Union, looks on course to shrink in the third quarter and risks falling into a recession; a result of the high interest rates set by the central bank to counter its huge inflation rate.

Another weak PMI for the eurozone confirms a sluggish economy with recession as a downside risk. Inflation pressures for services remain stubborn as…