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EU Services Activity Returns To Growth

C

Christopher Gutfreund

Founder · 03 February 2023

Currencies Covered:

EUR

The news will be welcomed by the European Central Bank who announced a 0.5% increase to its benchmark deposit rate, leaving it at a decade-high of 2.5%.

span>span>Friday 3rd February 2023/span>span> - 09:37 (GMT)/span>/span>

Euro demand was stoked following bullish preliminary readings for EU service sector output during January. Figures released by Market Economics showed EU Global Services PMI at 50.8 during the month – slightly above the 50.7 consensus and the first monthly expansion since July 2022.

Easing inflation and an uptick in wider business sentiment has helped lead the sector to growth in the early part of 2023, with Germany and France providing the largest contribution.

Additionally, the warmer weather and government support for dealing with increasing energy bills for both households and businesses have helped to support consumer demand.

The news will be welcomed by the European Central Bank who announced a 0.5% increase to its benchmark deposit rate, leaving it at a decade-high of 2.5%. The central bank also stated it expected to raise interest rates further and “intended” to hike them by another 0.5% in March.

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