S&P Global's final composite Purchasing Managers' Index , seen as a guide to economic health, fell to an 18-month low of 48.9 in August from July's 49.9, below a preliminary 49.2 estimate."A second month of deteriorating business conditions in the euro area adds to the likelihood of GDP contracting in the third quarter," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global.
"August saw output fall at an increased rate, with companies and households scaling back their expenditures amid the recent surge in inflation and growing uncertainty about the economic outlook," he added.A PMI covering the bloc's dominant service industry fell to 49.8 from 51.2, below the preliminary estimate of 50.2 and marking its first month below the breakeven level since March 2021.
Calls for an unprecedented 75 basis-point hike in interest rates from the European Central Bank on Thursday were finely balanced although a very slim majority of economists said they expected a smaller rise, a Reuters poll found.