Overview
- Surveys released Monday showed factory activity picked up in April across several regions as firms rushed to secure materials because of Middle East war disruptions and expected price rises.
- Input costs jumped to the fastest pace since 2022 in many reports and factories raised selling prices to multi‑year highs as supplier delivery times stretched to the worst since mid‑2022.
- The eurozone headline PMI rose to 52.2 with all eight tracked countries back in growth, yet the future output index fell to a 17‑month low and factories kept trimming staff.
- Germany’s final PMI printed at 51.4 with business expectations turning negative for the first time since 2024 as S&P Global warned the upturn looks like front‑loaded buying rather than lasting demand.
- India’s PMI improved to 54.7 with export orders at a seven‑month high and hiring at a 10‑month high, Spain returned to 51.7 on client stock‑building even as exports fell again, and South Africa’s PMI rebounded to 52.6 on brought‑forward orders that economists say may not endure.