The report "suggests that, having eased in the first quarter of the year, the euro zone's economic downturn is likely to have gathered momentum again in the second quarter"
- Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at Markit
Retail sales in the Euro area fell in March in line with economists' expectations, adding to signs that consumer demand is still weak, which is hampering recovery in the currency's bloc economy. According to Eurostat, retail sales declined 0.1% across the Euro bloc in April, following a 0.2% drop in March. On an annual basis retail sales edged down 2.4%, steeper than a 1.7% fall the month earlier. In addition to that, the Eurozone's services and manufacturing production shrank for a 15 consecutive month in April. A composite index rose to 46.9 last month from 46.5 in March, according to Markit Economics.
The report "suggests that, having eased in the first quarter of the year, the euro zone's economic downturn is likely to have gathered momentum again in the second quarter," said Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at Markit. "The PMI is broadly consistent with GDP falling at a quarterly rate of 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent in April."
"The financial markets appear to have survived the government debt crisis, but the leading economic indicators have recently declined," said Joerg Kraemer, Chief Economist at Commerzbank AG. There is "a significant risk that, contrary to analysts' expectations, the economy will not pick up in the spring," he added.
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