Eurozone and Germany slip into contraction as war drives prices higher
Germany's composite PMI dropped sharply to 48.3 in April from 51.9 in March, ending ten months of growth amid the Middle East war's economic fallout.
The broader eurozone composite PMI fell to 48.6, with services hitting a 62-month low whilst manufacturing rose to a near four-year high on safety-stock building.
S&P Global called it the biggest cost-pressure surge since 2000 outside the pandemic, complicating the ECB's policy outlook.