At 50.9, the final PMI composite index for March signalled a slight expansion of business activity. The latest print is 0.5 points above the flash estimate and consensus.
At the national level, the best-performing countries were Ireland (54.6), Spain (54.0), Germany (51.3) and Italy (50.5), all of which experienced an expansion of business activities. The weaker performing country was France (48.0) saw contractions falling short of the 50-growth threshold.

The final services PMI for March was 51.0, 0.6 points above the flash estimate and 0.4 points above February's final mark. This signalled a faster rate of expansion than February. New business fell again in March while employment continued to rise for the fifth consecutive month. Business optimism fell to its lowest since June 2024 however, input costs and output charges saw their slowest increase in four months.

As the Eurozone continues to experience expansion, the US tariffs might throw the economy off course once again. Germany aims to replace US in defence support. This could indirectly benefit the service sector, reducing the risk of downturn, according to today's report.

March's data put the Eurozone RPI at minus 20 and the RPI-P at minus 11, meaning that overall economic activity is falling short of market forecasts.

No revision is expected for the composite from the flash at 50.4. Services is seen unrevised at 50.4.

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.