Commenting on Eurozone PMI data, Christoph Weil, analyst at Commerzbank said the 16-nation bloc will expand strongly in the second half of 2009. The industry is benefiting primarily from the reversal of the inventory cycle and recovering external demand. The situation seems to have eased in the service sector too.
The Flash Eurozone Composite Output Index rose to 50 in August from 47 in July. The manufacturing sector climbed to 47.9 in August and the services PMI came in at 49.5.
Analyst said the next ECB move will be to hike interest rates. To minimize the risk of choking off the economic recovery, the central bank would possibly wait until summer. Aftershocks of the financial crisis will be felt for some time yet. Once the inventories have been restocked, the euro area economy will expand much more slowly again. At 1.5% in 2010, the growth in the Eurozone economy would still fall short of its long-term average.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.