Euro-Area Manufacturing Picks Up as Demand Drives Prices Higher
- PMI increases to 55.2 in January, flash estimate 55.1
- ‘Rhetoric at the ECB is likely to become more hawkish’
An employee stands beside Mercedes-Benz GLC sports utility vehicles (SUV) on the assembly line at the luxury automaker's factory in Bremen, Germany, on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. BMW lost its crown as the world's biggest luxury-car brand to Mercedes-Benz, ending its reign after more than a decade amid a cluttered lineup of aging models.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergEuro-area manufacturing expanded at the strongest pace in nearly six years, with firm order growth signaling a build-up of underlying price pressures.
A Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 55.2 in January, IHS Markit said on Wednesday. The reading compares with a flash estimate of 55.1 and is up from 54.9 in December. A weaker euro and more expensive global commodities raised companies’ input costs, while high demand drove price growth to the fastest pace in five-and-a-half years.