Latest indicators
In the Eurozone, consumer confidence edged higher but it remains very low. The manufacturing PMI hardly changed, which was a disappointment, whereas the services PMI brought a positive surprise by rising strongly to 53.0. The ZEW expectations survey also jumped. The final number for core CPI moved higher, reaching 5.3%. France saw a similar movement of the PMIs as the euro area: manufacturing down, services up. Business confidence improved slightly. The German manufacturing PMI was also down and the services PMI improved slightly. The ZEW survey saw a jump in expectations and the IFO business climate also improved on the back of better expectations. In Japan, the services PMI also improved and the same occurred in the UK and the US. In the US, initial jobless claims hardly changed, which was a positive surprise. Finally, University of Michigan consumer sentiment showed a significant increase on the back of improved expectations and a better assessment of current conditions.
Coming indicators
A very busy week with several surveys covering the month of February: European Commission consumer and business surveys, manufacturing, services and composite PMIs in a large number of countries, in the US the Conference Board consumer confidence index as well as the ISM surveys for manufacturing and for services. In the Eurozone, the attention will also go to the inflation numbers for February.
