Investing.com - French private sector activity continued to grow at a strong pace in January, underlining optimism over the economic outlook of the euro zone’s second largest economy, preliminary data showed on Wednesday.
Markit said that its seasonally adjusted Flash France Composite Output Index, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors rose from 59.6 in December to 59.7 in January, beating expectations for a reading of 59.4.
The preliminary services purchasing managers’ index improved to a seasonally adjusted 59.3 this month. The reading came in above expectations for 58.9 and up from 59.1 in December.
In contrast, the French manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 58.1 this month, missing expectations for 58.7 and down from 58.8 a month earlier.
A reading above 50.0 on the index indicates industry expansion, below indicates contraction.
As has been the case in recent months, output was supported by a further rise in new orders, which hit its highest level since April 2011.
Strong client demand continued to buoy employment numbers, which rose for the fifteenth time in as many months in January.
Commenting on the report, Alex Gill, an economist at Markit said, " A sharp pick-up in client demand encouraged a further sharp round of job creation. Nevertheless, backlogs of unfinished work accumulated to the greatest extent since April 2011. Together with a robust degree of business confidence, these trends look set to support further growth in the coming months."
EUR/USD was at 1.2320 from around 1.2312 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.8780 from 0.8775 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mixed after the open. France’s CAC 40 shed 0.1%, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.1%, Germany's DAX tacked on 0.1%, while London’s FTSE 100 inched down 0.2%.