French Business Activity Held Back by Manufacturing Dip
A worker removes a sample from a crucible of molten aluminum in a foundry in Dunkirk, France.
Photographer: Nathan Laine/BloombergThe contraction in French business activity eased this month but surprise weakness in the manufacturing sector weighed.
S&P Global’s Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 49.9 from 49.1 in January— not quite reaching the 50 mark separating expansion from contraction. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had anticipated an advance to 49.6.