The final data confirmed that French manufacturing remained in contraction but was firmer than expected in June. The 45.5 flash sector PMI was revised up to 46.0, beating the market consensus by a half point and up 0.3 points from its outturn in May. Nevertheless, it marked the fifth consecutive month of contraction in the country's manufacturing sector.

Despite the headline uptick, output continues to decline, new orders continue to fall in domestic as well as foreign markets, and business confidence about the year ahead has deteriorated significantly. Weak conditions in key client markets such as construction are contributing to the deterioration in demand. Purchasing activity by manufacturers fell at the strongest pace in four months, with companies opting to use existing stocks when possible. Employment in manufacturing has also declined for the first time this year, albeit modestly.

Input costs decreased for the second month in a row in June and at the fastest pace since March 2016.

Today's update pulls up the French ECDI to minus 6 and ECDI-P to minus 7. Both measures show that overall economic activity is now only slightly behind market expectations.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provides an estimate of manufacturing business activity for the preceding month by using information obtained from a representative sector survey incorporating around 400 companies. Results are synthesised into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) activity versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster is activity growing (contracting). The data are released by S&P Global.

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. By tracking economic data such as the ISM manufacturing index in the U.S. and the S&P Global PMIs elsewhere, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for the various markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures..

The S&P Global PMI manufacturing data give a detailed look at the manufacturing sector, how busy it is and where things are headed. Since the manufacturing sector is a major source of cyclical variability in the economy, this report has a big influence on the markets. And its sub-indexes provide a picture of orders, output, employment and prices.