Manufacturing growth in the eurozone weakened slightly in September as new orders and output slowed up, according to a survey.
This happened even though factories began cutting their prices again to try to drum up business.
Coming only a day after figures showed eurozone inflation slipped below zero again, the news is likely to add to pressure on the European Central Bank to expand its stimulus programme.
Markit’s final manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index was 52.0 last month, the same as a flash reading and the consensus from a Reuters poll but lower than August’s 52.3. It has been above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for over two years.
An index measuring output that feeds into a composite PMI, due on Monday and seen as a good guide to growth, fell to 53.4 from 53.9, lower than the preliminary 53.5 reading.
Growth in new orders from abroad also dipped slightly.
The ECB’s bond buying programme has had only modest success and policymakers have hinted
