The data already released for Germany showed that German IP rose 0.6% in February while IP was flat in France. The euro-area manufacturing PMI recovered from the 16-month low it reached in November and was 52.2 in March, the highest since May 2014. New export orders were the highest in almost a year according to Markit.
"Euro-area industrial production (IP) ex-construction likely registered 0.4% growth on a monthly basis in February, which translates into 0.8% on an annual basis", says Standard Chartered.
Even though the clear improvement in soft data might take some time to be reflected in hard data, analysts believe that euro depreciation and lower energy prices are likely tailwinds for manufacturing.
