PARIS: Economic activity in France slowed slightly in February as the manufacturing sector cooled off, the results of a survey by the country’s central bank showed.
The Banque de France’s (BdF) business sentiment index for last month slipped to a reading of 96 points from a print of 98 points in the month before.
The consensus forecast had been for an unchanged reading of 98 points.A gauge of production in manufacturing eased back to a reading of +1 points from a reading of +7 in the month before.
Activity in the service sector picked up some of the slack, with the corresponding sub-index rising to +8. The sub-index for activity in construction was flat at -1.
The BdF lowered its estimate for growth in gross domestic product for the first quarter to 0.3% in quarter-on-quarter terms, from the 0.4% rise it had previously penciled in.
Acting as a backdrop, on Monday morning analysts at Credit Suisse lowered their recommendation on French equities to ‘underweight’. They argued that the country has weak PMI momentum, has a less dollar-sensitive economy, there is disappointment over the speed of reforms and France needs more fiscal tightening than Italy to stabilise its stock of debt.
