Eurozone business growth below all expectations

London

EUROZONE business growth has been weaker than any forecaster expected this month and new orders have fallen for the first time in more than a year despite further price-cutting, a survey showed on Thursday.

Markit's Composite Flash Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), based on surveys of thousands of companies and seen as a good growth indicator, fell to 51.4, missing even the lowest forecast in a Reuters poll. "This is going to be a huge disappointment for the European Central Bank. This is the eurozone more or less just continuing to stagnate, a renewed downturn is an increasing likelihood," said Chris Williamson, survey compiler Markit's chief economist.