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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Eurozone recovery slows as France's downturn continues

Rolling business and financial news through the day, including the latest PMI factory reports and Eurozone unemployment data.

Summary: Eurozone manufacturing recovery slows as French downturn deepens

French factories report falling orders and more job cutsStrongest Spanish PMI since before the financial crisisBNP Paribas press conference highlightsHere's what's coming up today

9.39am BST

Back to the manufacturing data -- and the UK has reported another blowout number.

The UK factory PMI jumped to a seven-month high of 57.5 in June -- showing that growth accelerated from the already strong 57.0 recorded in May.

The level of incoming new business rose at the fastest pace since November 2013 and to one of the greatest extents since the survey began in 1992.

The domestic market remained the prime source of new contract wins, although inflows of new export business also strengthened.

RT @World_First: UK Manufacturing PMI (June) = 57.5 vs 56.8 expected and 57.0 previous > Q2 growth surely over 1%

9.36am BST

German unemployment rose unexpectedly for the second month in a row in June, the Labour Office said this morning.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, unemployment jumped by 9,000 to 2.916m, dashing predictions of a 10,000 decline. The jobless rate was steady at 6.7 percent.

9.27am BST

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, is worried that today's data shows the eurozone recovery is losing momentum:

Here's his take:

There are encouraging signs of growth gathering momentum in the regions "periphery, especially in Spain and Ireland, and some of the slowdown in Germany may have been due to a high number of public holidays. But the overall picture is a reminder of just how fragile the regions recovery is looking.

Employment is barely rising in the manufacturing sector as companies worry about waning growth of new orders, which reflects very subdued demand for goods from households and businesses.

9.25am BST

And the upshot of all this morning's data is that the eurozone's manufacturing recovery has slowed last month, with France taking the blame.

9.22am BST

Now this is disappointing - Greece's factory sector has suffered a fresh contraction, reversing the welcome revival seen in May.

Its factory PMY fell to a seven-month low of 49.4, indicating a contraction, down from 51 (small growth) in May. Firms reported a drop in new orders.

9.10am BST

And finally Germany -- and growth in its factory sector has dipped.

The German manufacturing PMI fell to 52, down from 52.4. That still shows expansion, but at the slowest rate since October 2013.

Junes survey results pointed to slower growth in Germanys goods producing sector with the headline PMI falling to an eight-month low. Output and new order growth continued to slow, which our panel members in many cases linked to production adjustments after strong growth had been reported at the beginning of the year.

In line with the weaker trends for output and new orders, companies were reluctant to take on additional workers during June, thereby ending a six-month period of continuous job creation.

9.00am BST

There's more bad news for France, though -- its manufacturing PMI has fallen to a six-month low as activity declined at a faster rate.

The final French PMI dropped to 48.2 this month -- down from 49.6 in May, which means that business conditions have deteriorated at the fastest rate so far this year.

France Manufacturing #PMI eases to six-month low of 48.2 in June, from 49.6 in May http://t.co/xEdpItOHwv pic.twitter.com/FfMA887xgd

Frances manufacturing sector is back in reverse gear and weakness looks set to persist through the summer. Deteriorating business conditions were reflected in cuts to production levels for the first time in five months and the fastest reduction in new orders so far this year. Junes survey pointed to weakening demand from both domestic and export clients, which in turn placed further downwards pressure on factory gate charges.

Squeezed operating margins and a return to falling output volumes contributed to the steepest pace of manufacturing job shedding since the end of 2013.

8.53am BST

Now it's Italy's turn....and growth in its factory sector has dropped to a three- month low.

The Italian manufacturing PMI, tracking activity across the sector, came in at 52.6 in June, down from 53.2 in May.

The manufacturing sector made significant gains in the second quarter, as highlighted by the headline PMI posting it highest quarterly average for more than three years. Output growth eased in June but was nevertheless solid and led businesses to raise employment again, with the current run of jobs growth in the sector the longest since 2007."

8.46am BST

Growth in the Czech Republic's factory sector has eased last month -- with the PMI dropping to 54.7 from 57.3. That still shows a rise in activity, but at a lower rate.

8.37am BST

Spain's factory sector has grown at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis.

The monthly manufacturing PMI survey has shown a sharp jump in output, new orders and (crucially) employment in June.

In contrast to the disappointing results for "La Roja in Brazil, the performance of the Spanish manufacturing sector provided plenty of encouragement in June.

Sharp rises in output and new orders were recorded, while the rate of job creation picked up to its strongest since mid-2007. This all added up to the strongest monthly improvement in the health of the sector for seven years.

8.26am BST

Growth in Dutch factory sector has eased last month, pulled back by subdued domestic demand.

Markit reports that the Dutch manufacturing PMI came in at 52.3 in June, down from 53.6 in May to its lowest level since July 2013.

The main factor underlying the slower rate of increase in new orders was subdued domestic demand. In contrast, strong gains in new export orders were registered at Dutch manufacturers, with foreign demand improving at the fastest pace since February

8.20am BST

Manufacturing conditions have deteriorated in Turkey, dragging its factory sector into a small contraction this month.

The monthly PMI survey, from HSBC, shows that:

Output, new orders, exports, backlogs and purchasing activity all declined during the month.

Employment in the sector continued to rise, but at a rate unchanged from Mays 22-month low. Input price inflation remained sharp, linked to the weak lira, but slowed for the fifth successive month from Januarys peak to the weakest since May 2013.

8.17am BST

A quick explainer -- the PMI indices are calculated by asking Purchasing Managers at firms around the globe about current conditions (activity, output, employment, orders).

This is then used to create a single headline number -- where 50 indicates no change. Anything over 50 shows growth, while 49.9 or lower shows contraction.

8.12am BST

Back to the manufacturing data..and Ireland has posted its biggest jump in factory orders in 40 months.

The headline manufacturing PMI for Ireland came in at 55.3, up from 55.0 in May -- which means activity rose at a faster rate.

The recovery in the Irish manufacturing sector continued at the end of the second quarter of the year as new business growth accelerated during June. Firms used inventories to help fulfil new orders and stocks of finished goods fell solidly as a result. Meanwhile, the rate of expansion in output eased, but remained marked.

Cost inflationary pressures were muted again in June, while output prices were raised for the first time in six months.

8.06am BST

As predicted, BNP's shares have indeed jumped in early trading, up nearly 3.5%:

BNP Paribas Shares Open +3.4% After Settles US Probe

8.01am BST

And if you missed it, this was the scene in New York last night as BNP Paribas, pleaded guilty and agreed to pay nearly $9 billion to resolve criminal allegations that it processed transactions for clients in Sudan and other blacklisted countries in violation of U.S. trade sanctions (story here):

7.59am BST

Traders are predicting that BNP Paribas shares will rise by 2-3% this morning, now that the penalty for sanctions-busting has been agreed.

BNP said to be up 3% this morning ... mkt seems relieved it is just over.

7.57am BST

CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé also indicated that this year's dividend target is now 1.50 per share, versus 2 per share before.

There had been speculation that BNP would be forced to freeze the dividend to help cover the $8.9bn fine, but CFO Lars Machenil says its cash reserves mean it has ample liquidity.

7.55am BST

Here's the key quote from BNP's conference call this morning:

"We deeply regret the past misconduct that led to this settlement,"

"The failures that have come to light in the course of this investigation run contrary to the principles on which BNP Paribas has always sought to operate."

7.49am BST

Over in Paris, French bank BNP Paribas is holding a press conference to discuss last night's $8.9bn fine for breaking US sanctions over trade with Sudan, Iran and Cuba.

Chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafé begins telling analysts and journalists that the penalty does not threaten BNP's financial stability.

7.35am BST

Michael Hewson of CMC Markets has helpfully rounded up the City forecasts for today's eurozone manufacturing reports, due over the next few hours.

With a big week of data coming up starting today, investors are looking for further evidence of an underpinning of recovery in China, the US, as well as the UK, and hoping that the situation in Europe doesn't lose too much of its early momentum from the first part of this year.

This mornings Chinese manufacturing PMI numbers have got the day off to a fairly positive start, coming in at 51, in line with expectations for the official measure, and 50.7 for the HSBC measure, which missed expectations.

Today's final manufacturing PMI's for June from Italy, Spain, France and Germany are set to show that while Italy and Spain are starting to show some signs of optimism with rising PMI's, the economies of France and Germany are continuing to diverge, with French manufacturing PMI set to be confirmed at 47.8, while Germany is set to remain at 52.4.

7.33am BST

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the financial markets, the world economy, business and the eurozone.

It's a new month, and that means it's a big day for manufacturing data.

A fairly lacklustre open seen for the 1st day of the 2nd half of the share trading year. Financial bookies: FTSE100 +13, DAX +7, CAC40 +1

Japan's Nikkei Average ends up 1.1% at 15,326.20

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READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com