The final Composite Index for June comes in at 50.9. While it is 0.1 above its flash estimate, it is still 1.3 points lower than May (52.2). As it is above the 50-growth threshold, it means that there is an expansion in the economy, however, the expansion rate is much slower than in May. The expansion rate is at the lowest it has been in the last 3 months.

The Service Index is at 52.8, only 0.2 points above its flash estimates but 0.4 points lower than in May (53.2). Similarly, there is a slower rate of expansion in June than in May. With demands low and new product orders being the lowest since February, the manufacturing industry saw a strong decline in sales while the service industry saw increased demand. Due to this, there is an increase in employment in the service industry but not in the manufacturing sector.

The best-performing country is Spain (55.8), along with Italy (51.3), Germany (50.4), and Ireland (50.1). All of which exceed the 50-growth threshold, signaling an expanding economy. France, while it succeded in out-pacing its flash estimates, at 48.8 is still below the 50-growth thresholds and thus is contracting. As for prices, input cost inflation slowed to a 38-month low. Output also increased at the softest pace in over three years.

The Eurozone RPI now stands at minus 11 and RPI-P at minus 24, both showing economic activity in general falling short of market forecasts.

The Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provides an estimate of private sector output for the preceding month by combining information obtained from surveys of the manufacturing and service sectors of the economy. Results are synthesised into a single index which can range between zero and 100. A reading above (below) 50 signals rising (falling) output versus the previous month and the closer to 100 (zero) the faster is output growing (contracting). The report also contains the final estimate of the services PMI. The data are provided by S&P Global using a representative sample of around 5,000 manufacturing and services companies, the former including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, the Republic of Ireland and Greece and the latter Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Republic of Ireland.

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 purchasing managers' manufacturing indexes, 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.