FRANCE DATA: Flash PMI details point in a dovish direction

The underlying details of the French flash PMIs point in a dovish direction with the sharpest fall in selling prices since January 2021 and expectations for activity over the next 12 months negative for the first time in 6 months and the future activity index at the lowest level since April 2020.

• "Restricting business activity levels was another marked reduction in new order intakes, with services companies reporting the more pronounced drop in sales out of the two monitored sectors. Competition for work prompted the sharpest monthly fall in selling prices since January 2021."
• "company sentiment was its most subdued since April 2020."
• "Expectations for activity over the next 12 months turned negative for the first time since last November, with companies pointing to the subdued sales environment, client hesitancy, geopolitical factors and the prevailing economic climate as reasons to be pessimistic. Albeit still over 13 points higher than April 2020’s record low, the ‘flash’ HCOB Future Activity Index was still nonetheless at its lowest level since that nadir."
• "New orders received from non-domestic sources shrank during the latest survey period. Both manufacturers and service providers registered steeper falls in new export sales, although the latter posted the more pronounced drop."