There was a weak message about the eurozone economy on Friday, the purchasing managers’ indices for both industry and service sectors clearly fell short of expectations. November’s preliminary reading of the General Purchasing Managers’ Index was 48.1, while the forecast was 50.0 and October’s figure was 49.9. The weakness was so significant that in the purchasing managers’ index, a figure above 50 indicates accelerating economic activity and a figure below 50 indicates a contraction of the economy.
The possible new tariffs of the future president of the United States have also been a concern of export-dependent Europe in recent weeks. In the coming months, the European Central Bank will probably be under pressure to continue interest rate cuts at a brisk pace in order to stimulate the euro area economy.
In the interest rate market, the market rate of the US ten-year government bond was down by three percentage points. Euro countries’ interest rates were steeper, mostly in declines of eight percentage points.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro and the pound weakened clearly. The pound was weighed down by Britain’s weak retail sales figures from October.
The euro had weakened by 0.6 percent against the dollar and the yen. The euro/pound ratio remained close to yesterday’s closing level.
You got 1.041 dollars for the euro and 154.49 yen for the dollar.
Later in the afternoon in the United States, the preliminary figure for November’s purchasing managers’ index will also be published.
Source: www.arvopaperi.fi
