Manufacturing activity performs slightly beneath than both the flash and the consensus in March. At 48.6, the final PMI was 0.1 point below the flash estimate. This suggests that the reading is still below the 50-expansion threshold and contracting. Despite this, the manufacturing output for March is 50.5, suggesting growth and recovery in output. This puts the output at 34-month high.

The best-performing countries was Greece (55.0) and Ireland (51.6) where growth was at least positive. The Netherlands (49.6), Spain (49.5), France (48.5), Germany (48.3), Austria (46.9), and Italy (46.6) all saw contractions. Greece topped the list with an astonishing 11-month high.

Factory output for the Eurozone shows signs of recovery as production increases for the first time since March 2023. A much-needed improvement from February's 48.9 output. Factory employment continued its downward trend as purchasing activity and inventories continued to decrease. Input prices continued to rise, and prices charged also increased for the first time since August 2024, albeit only marginally. Business optimism dipped to a 3-month low.

Today's update puts the Eurozone RPI at minus 34 and the RPI-P at minus 35. Overall economic activity in general is falling short of market expectations.

No revision is expected from the flash at 48.7 in the final March report.

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 3,000 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). Released by S&P Global, national data are included for Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, the Republic of Ireland and Greece. These countries together account for an estimated 89 percent of Eurozone manufacturing activity.

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.