Gold prices bounce off 3-week lows; demand likely longer term
Investing.com -- The private sector activity in France has seen a sharp contraction in April, primarily due to a significant decline in services, according to the HCOB Flash France PMI survey conducted by S&P Global.
The flash services PMI, a key indicator of economic health, fell to 46.8 points, down from 47.9. This is the lowest it has been in two months.
The downturn was driven by a substantial drop in new business intakes, the steepest decline since November 2020. These results were slightly worse than the forecasted 47.7 points predicted in a poll.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector displayed some resilience. The output index for manufacturing rose to 50.3 from 48.6, marking a 35-month high.
Despite this increase in output, the overall manufacturing PMI showed a slight decline, coming in at 48.2, down from 48.5 in March.
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