European markets reopen

PMI’s from across the EU are scheduled for publication this morning, with Spain and Germany expected to show increases on the index compiled by Markit. The eurozone as a whole is expected to show growth both in the month to March, and in the year-on-year reading. The reading for the euro area is expected to come in somewhere near 54.0 over the past twelve months, well above the reading of 50 which is taken as the benchmark indicator of expansion in the sector.

Producer prices are expected to remain in negative territory in the currency bloc in February, with the expected contraction in prices forecasted to shrink to -0.1%. January had shown that prices dropped by -0.9%. The year-on-year figures may be of more concern to policymakers, however, as the index is expected to show a decline of -3.0% over the past twelve months, which would be a slight improvement on the figures posted for January, but would still be the second worst reading on the index since 2009.