Activity in Europe's business services sector nudged higher last month, but barely registered any growth, according to new figures compiled by NTC Research The purchasing managers' index (PMI), published by , revealed that services activity rose to 50.1 in October from 49.1 in September, where a reading above 50.0 indicates expansion
The services sector reading follows last week's PMI for the manufacturing sector. It also improved marginally last month, edging up to 49.1 in October from 48.9 in September, although it continued to contract Elsewhere this morning, German retail sales declined by 0.2pc in September compared to August, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistics Office.
The decline was less than the 1.0pc slump expected but the figure still indicates an unwelcome weakness in consumer confidence in Europe's largest economy in the lead up to Christmas. On a year-on-year basis, sales were down 1.3pc, the statistics office said //www.fxcentre.com