Germany: Markit Manufacturing PMI declines to 57.6 in March vs. 55.8 expected

• Private sector's business activity continued to expand in early March in Germany.
• EUR/USD trades little changed on the day near 1.1000.

Business activity in Germany's manufacturing sector continued to expand in March albeit at a softer pace than it did in February with Markit Manufacturing PMI declining to 57.6 (preliminary) from 58.4. This reading came in better than the market expectation of 55.8.

IHS Markit further reported that the Services PMI edged lower to 55 from 55.8 in the same period, compared to the market expectation of 53.8.

Commenting on the data, "manufacturing is already starting to drag on overall growth, due to its greater exposure to the supply chain disruption and drop in export demand that have resulted from the War in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia," said Phil Smith, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global.

Market reaction 

EUR/USD edged slightly higher with the initial reaction to the PMI data and was last seen posting small daily losses near 1.1000.