When "whatever it takes" is not enough... Despite Draghi's promises and EU leaders' exuberance, European Investor Confidence tumbled to its lowest since January as the Q€ bounce has now well and truly died. While volatility has picked up over the last month and reassuring tones have been uttered by every central banker in the world, it is the real economy that appears to be weighing on confidence as Eurozone Composite PMI prints at 53.6 - its lowest since February.
We're gonna need a biger Q€ Boat...
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And since Q€ did not work to boost the economy this time - we are sure more will be demanded...
As Goldman notes, the Final estimate of the Euro area September Composite PMI came in at 53.6, 0.3pt lower than the Flash estimate. This reflects a downward revision in the services PMI (from 54.0 to 53.7). September data showed a 0.7pt decline in the Euro area Composite PMI, with declines occurring in Germany, Italy and, notably Spain. The French PMI rebounded robustly.
1. The Final/Flash revision to the Euro area September composite PMI was -0.3pt in September. The German Flash/Final revision was slightly negative (-0.2pt) and the French Flash/Final revision was robustly positive (+0.5pt).
2. The breakdown of components was mixed. Within the Euro area Composite PMI, the services PMI showed some weakness (-0.8pt to 53.7). Themanufacturing PMI [8] ticked down only slightly, but remains at a weaker level (-0.3pt to 52.0). Within manufacturing, new orders and production nudged down. For the services component, the forward-looking elements showed 'incoming business' rising (+0.2pt to 53.6), while the 'business expectations' component fell somewhat (-0.8pt to 62.2).
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3. On a country basis, the Composite PMI fell sharply in Spain (-4.1pt to 54.6), against expectations of a flat reading (Cons: 58.0). This was driven by a sharp contraction in the Spanish services components, albeit from an elevated level (-4.5pt to 55.1). Italian Composite PMI also showed some weakness in September (-1.6pt to 53.4). With today's revisions, the September Composite PMI now shows a moderate decline in Germany (-0.9pt to 54.1) and a robust rebound in France, even if from a lower level (+1.7pt to 51.9).
Charts: Bloomberg
