Euro area PMI declines in July
After a small rebound in June, the euro area composite PMI declined in July to 51.5 from 52.2, below consensus expectations. While sentiment in the services sector decelerates only slightly (53.3 after 53.6 in Ju ne ), the difficulties faced by the manufacturing sector remain. The manufacturing PMI declined more than expected, from 47.6 to 46.4. This is in line with the GDP growth slowdown we forecast for the second half of 2019, against a background of uncertainties (Brexit, trade war, political instability…) .