Eurozone January final services PMI 50.8 vs 50.7 prelim | Forexlive

• Composite PMI 50.3 vs 50.2 prelim

This reaffirms that euro area business activity returned to growth in January as the economy continues to display remarkable resilience through the winter months. S&P Global notes that:

“A resumption of business output growth, even marginal,
is welcome news and suggests that the eurozone could
escape a recession. With price pressures down markedly
in recent months, supply constraints easing and near-term
energy market worries alleviated by subsidies, lower
prices and a warm winter, business confidence has also
lifted higher, adding to hopes that the upturn will gather
steam in the coming months.

“However, it remains too early to completely disregard
recession risks. In particular, the impact of higher interest
rates on economic growth has yet to be fully felt, and many
companies are relying on backlogs of previously placed
orders, accumulated during the pandemic, to sustain
growth. Demand growth needs to accelerate to drive a
more robust upturn, and it is worrying in that respect to see
new orders continue to fall in January.

“It therefore remains to be seen whether the eurozone can
build on the marginal expansion seen in January or
whether we might see a repeat of 2012, when an
encouraging return to growth at the start of the year proved
fragile and gave way to a fresh downturn.”

/EUR