French Private Sector Contracts Marginally

(RTTNews) - France's private sector contracted only marginally in July as the services economy logged a notable turnaround, survey data from S&P Global showed Friday.

The flash composite output index rose to 49.6 in July from 47.2 in the previous month.

The score suggested only a marginal decline in private sector activity when compared to the previous month. Moreover, the reading was the highest since the outbreak of the Middle East war at the end of February.

The services Purchasing Managers' Index posted 49.8, up from 46.8 in the previous month. The index was expected to fall to 47.5.

At the same time, the factory PMI hit 50.0 compared to 51.2 in June. However, the score was below forecast of 51.0.

"Escalating tensions between the US and Iran bring fresh uncertainty about inflation, borrowing costs and geopolitics more broadly, and uncertainty has so often been to the detriment of the French economy in recent years," S&P Global Market Intelligence Senior Principal Economist Joe Hayes said.