Euro Zone Business Activity Reaches Strongest Level in 2 Years

Euro zone business activity in August was at its strongest level since June 2011, figures released on Wednesday showed, offering hope that the region is on its way to a sustainable recovery.

Markit’s Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) will add to the case for the European Central Bank (ECB) to leave interest rates on hold when it meets on Thursday.

The figure came in at 51.5 for August, up from 50.5 in July.

Sony Kapoor, managing director at international think tank Re-Define, warned however that the figures were hardly outstanding.

“It was hard to sink lower than we were so it’s got to be put in perspective that we’re starting from a bad base — and there’s reason to question how solid the base of this recovery is,” he told CNBC.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza