Eurozone Business Activity Stalls in
April Led by Fall-off in Services

Brussels, 23 Apr (ONA) — Eurozone
business activity has stalled this month, a top industry survey showed today,
led by the contraction in the bloc’s dominant services industry and as the
prolonged downturn in manufacturing continued.

HCOB’s preliminary composite
eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, dropped
to 50.1 this month from March’s 50.9. It was barely above the 50 mark
separating growth from contraction and short of the median estimate for 50.3 in
a Reuters poll.

A PMI covering services sank to 49.7
from 51.0, missing the poll estimate for a more modest decline to 50.5.

Optimism among services firms
plummeted with the business outlook index falling to 53.1 from 57.8, the lowest
since mid-2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was tightening its grip on the world.

Manufacturing activity, in decline
for nearly three years, saw some improvement. The sector’s PMI rose to a
27-month high of 48.7 from 48.6, confounding expectations in the Reuters poll
for a decline to 47.5.

An index measuring output, which
feeds into the composite PMI, jumped to 51.2 from 50.5, its highest in almost three
years.

Firms have suffered from uncertainty
as U.S. President Donald Trump flip-flops on his tariff policy.

But some of the activity was from
factories completing past orders. The backlogs of work index dropped to a
three-month low of 46.8 from 47.7.

As overall demand fell again, firms
returned to reducing headcount. The composite employment index dipped to 49.9
after being just above breakeven at 50.4 in March.

— Ends/Khalid