Eurozone manufacturing PMI starts 2020 looking up

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in the manufacturing sector of Eurozone posted an increase in January, a London-based global data company said on Tuesday.

The index, which was estimated to stand at 50.9, rose to 51.3 last month, from 50.9 in December, IHS Markit's report showed.

"The index indicated a modest rate of growth, but nonetheless the highest recorded by the survey since last August,” said the company.

While the services sector led the expansion in the private sector, manufacturing output continued to drop in January.

The report said: "All nations covered by composite PMI data recorded an expansion in private sector output during January."

Chris Williamson, the chief business economist at the company, said: "Fears of a manufacturing downturn spreading to services have therefore eased, in turn helping assuage the risk of recession."

The growth in PMI is expected to gain momentum steadily this year, he added.

"However, the pace of output growth is still subdued, and firms remain concerned by existing headwinds as well as fresh risks.

"Although U.S.-China trade war tensions have cooled, the U.S. trade rhetoric has now turned to Europe, with the auto sector looking especially vulnerable to tariff threats."

Touching on the Brexit process and the coronavirus epidemic, he said they cause uncertainties in the continent.