Euroarea’s final services PMIs likely improved slightly from flash estimate in September

Euro area’s final services PMIs for September are expected to have come in slightly better than the flash estimate. The flash print dropped to a 21-month low, partially due to a surprising drop in German figure. This was partly countered by a 15-month high services figure in France. The composite figure of France outperformed its German equivalent for the first time in more than four years. However, a slight moderation is likely in the final figures, said Societe Generale in a research note.

“Overall, a composite number of 52.8 for the euro area is consistent with GDP growth of just over 0.3 percent qoq in 3Q, slightly below our forecast (0.4 percent qoq)”, added Societe Generale.

Going into details, services in Germany might have risen by two ticks, whereas the figure in France is expected to have moved down by around the same magnitude. The nations that have no flash estimates might have also added to the overall weakness in the currency bloc. Services figures in Spain and Italy are also likely to have dropped in the month; however, services index of Spain is anticipated to have stayed at a high level, according to Societe Generale.