Euro area manufacturing slowdown could be stabilising - ANZ

Commenting on today's macroeconomic data releases, "The euro area final manufacturing PMI data for October came in slightly better than in September but remains firmly contractionary," noted Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group analysts.

Key quotes

"The final reading was 45.9 compared to 45.7 in September. Germany's PMI improved 0.2pts to 42.1 and France's rose 0.6pts to 50.7. New orders rose 1.9pts to 45.3 and new export orders rose 1.0pts to 45.8 – welcome, but still contractionary. The employment index fell 0.4pts to 46.7, its lowest level since August 2012."

"All up, the mixed data point to some stability in the pace of contraction, but at extremely low levels. And while the index has been sub-50 for nine consecutive months now, markets welcomed the tentative signal that the manufacturing slowdown could be stabilising."