Overview
- Eurozone factories, which S&P Global reported Monday, showed a headline PMI of 52.2 driven by customers pulling orders forward and longer supplier delays that mechanically boost the index even without stronger demand.
- Across Europe, reports for Germany, Spain and France tied April growth to front-loading as delivery times worsened to 2022 levels and selling prices surged to multi-year highs.
- India’s PMI rose to 54.7 for April, the second-slowest improvement in nearly four years, as fuel and raw-material costs hit their fastest rise since August 2022 and producers raised prices at the quickest pace in six months.
- Divergences persisted as Russia’s PMI fell to 48.1 for an 11th straight month of contraction and Pakistan’s HBL PMI slipped to 49.9, after which the State Bank lifted its policy rate to 11.5% to counter rising inflation risks.
- South Africa’s Absa PMI returned to expansion at 52.6 on pre-emptive buying, with economists warning that cost pressure and weak underlying demand could make the upturn short-lived.