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China's vast factory sector contracted again this month and the expected acceleration in Euro zone business activity failed to materialise, highlighting the fragile state of the global economy.
The flash Chinese Markit/HSBC PMI fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in February from January's 49.5, although some analysts cautioned against reading too much into the report, noting it was a shorter-than-usual snapshot. Anything below 50 indicates a contraction.
Markit's Eurozone Composite PMI, which is based on surveys of thousands of companies and is seen as a good guide to growth, dipped to 52.7, just below January's 31-month high of 52.9. That missed expectations in a Reuters poll for a modest rise to 53.1 but marked the eighth month the index has been above the 50 level. "The story behind the Euro zone PMIs remains one of an increasingly fragile recovery under way amid growing divergence between the union's largest economies, global growth headwinds and persistent euro strength," said Lena Komileva at G+ Economics.
Good news in US
The Markit Economics preliminary index of US manufacturing increased to 56.7 in February from a final reading of 53.7 last month, the London-based group said today. The Conference Board said on Thursday that its Leading Economic Index climbed 0.3 per cent to 99.5 last month.
US jobless claims declined by 3,000 to 336,000 in the week ended February 15.
