Eurozone business activity growth fell to 11-month low

Eurozone private sector business activity slowed its growth to 11-month low in January, as the deterioration of the situation was observed both in manufacturing and services.

The Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), that is closely watched by Markit, decreased from 54.3 to 53.5 points, disappointing analysts who had predicted a slight decrease to 54.2.

The indicator for manufacturing sector retreated from 53.2 to 52.3 points in expected 53 points. PMI for the services sector  fell to 53.6 points from 54.2 in December, while the forecast was for zero change. In the manufacturing sector the performance is the weakest for the last three months, and non-productive - in a year.

Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said "the cooling of business activity at the start of 2016 is a disappointment but not surprising given the uncertainty caused by the financial market volatility seen so far this year.""It would be wrong to get too worried," Williamson said, saying the report was consistent with overall quarterly growth of 0.3-0.4 percent.