Eurozone Business Activity 'resilient' Despite Brexit: Survey

BRUSSELS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd july,2016) - Economic activity in the eurozone fell in July, but only slightly in a signal that the bad effects of Brexit have yet to take hold in continental Europe, a closely watched survey showed Friday. Data monitoring company Markit did not cite Britain's vote to leave the EU as the specific cause of the downturn, and even said France and Germany showed surprising resilience. Markit said the preliminary July reading for its Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the eurozone fell to 52.

9 points, a 18-month low, from 53.1 in June. The PMI measures companies' readiness to spend on their business and so gives a good idea of how the underlying economy is performing before official statistics are compiled and released. Any reading above the boom-bust 50 points line indicates the economy is expanding. Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the eurozone economy "showed surprising resilience in the face of the UK's vote to leave the EU and another terrorist attack in France."