AGL 38.20 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.13%)
AIRLINK 129.30 Increased By ▲ 4.23 (3.38%)
BOP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 1.00 (14.6%)
CNERGY 4.66 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (4.72%)
DCL 8.35 Increased By ▲ 0.44 (5.56%)
DFML 38.86 Increased By ▲ 1.52 (4.07%)
DGKC 82.20 Increased By ▲ 4.43 (5.7%)
FCCL 33.64 Increased By ▲ 3.06 (10.01%)
FFBL 75.75 Increased By ▲ 6.89 (10.01%)
FFL 12.83 Increased By ▲ 0.97 (8.18%)
HUBC 110.72 Increased By ▲ 6.22 (5.95%)
HUMNL 14.03 Increased By ▲ 0.54 (4%)
KEL 5.22 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (12.26%)
KOSM 7.69 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (7.25%)
MLCF 40.08 Increased By ▲ 3.64 (9.99%)
NBP 72.51 Increased By ▲ 6.59 (10%)
OGDC 189.18 Increased By ▲ 9.65 (5.38%)
PAEL 25.74 Increased By ▲ 1.31 (5.36%)
PIBTL 7.38 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (3.22%)
PPL 153.45 Increased By ▲ 9.75 (6.78%)
PRL 25.52 Increased By ▲ 1.20 (4.93%)
PTC 17.92 Increased By ▲ 1.52 (9.27%)
SEARL 82.50 Increased By ▲ 3.93 (5%)
TELE 7.63 Increased By ▲ 0.41 (5.68%)
TOMCL 32.50 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (1.66%)
TPLP 8.48 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (4.31%)
TREET 16.74 Increased By ▲ 0.61 (3.78%)
TRG 56.01 Increased By ▲ 1.35 (2.47%)
UNITY 28.85 Increased By ▲ 1.35 (4.91%)
WTL 1.34 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (3.88%)
BR100 10,659 Increased By 569.2 (5.64%)
BR30 31,331 Increased By 1822.5 (6.18%)
KSE100 99,269 Increased By 4695.1 (4.96%)
KSE30 31,032 Increased By 1587.6 (5.39%)

All of the eurozone's major economies are now in various states of decline, according to business surveys that suggested even Germany is no longer immune to the tremors emanating from the likes of Greece and Spain. Tuesday's purchasing managers indexes (PMIs) showed the euro area's vast private economy shrank in May at the fastest pace in nearly three years, with company order books collapsing.
Markit's Eurozone Composite PMI, which surveys thousands of companies every month, fell to 46.0 in May from April's 46.7, its lowest reading since June 2009 and spending its fourth month below the 50 mark that divides growth and contraction. It was little changed from a preliminary reading. Of particular note was the suggestion Germany is no longer generating the sort of economic growth that kept the wider euro zone out of recession in the first quarter, with businesses seeing a mild downturn last month.
Greece, which unleashed the financial maelstrom that has ravaged the bloc, is due for a crucial second election in three weeks that may determine whether it remains a member of the currency union. The composite PMI's new business index last month slumped to 44.6 from 44.8 in April, its lowest reading since June 2009. The PMI for the services sector, which covers companies ranging from banks to restaurants, declined slightly to 46.7 in May from 46.9 in April - its lowest reading since October last year. It was a marginal improvement on a preliminary reading of 46.5.
It showed prices charged to consumers declined for a sixth straight month, suggesting ECB policymakers may be able to worry less about the threat of high inflation. Indeed, while most economists still think the ECB will hold interest rates for a long time, more than a third polled by Reuters last week were convinced it will soon cut interest rates below their present record low of 1.0 percent to help the economy.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

Comments

Comments are closed.