Urgent - Divergence in PMI indicators for the manufacturing and services sectors in France.

Data released by  S&P Global on Monday morning showed that manufacturing activity data in France was negative during the current month of December, with the preliminary reading of the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) indicating a contraction at 41.9 points, which was worse than market expectations, which had forecasted a reading of 43.0 points. The previous reading for November was 43.1 points.

This index measures the level of activity of purchasing managers in the manufacturing sector and is primarily based on original survey data collected from 1,000 companies within the French manufacturing and service sectors. It is also based on about 85% of total monthly responses to the purchasing managers' survey. A reading above 50 indicates growth, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction.

At the same time, the preliminary reading of the purchasing managers' index for the services sector in France was positive, indicating a contraction at 48.2 points during December, which was better than expectations that projected the index to record 46.9 points. The previous reading had recorded a contraction at 46.9 points during the previous month of November.

This index measures the level of activity of purchasing managers based on the survey conducted in the services sector. The French services PMI relies on data collected from around 500 companies in the French service sector, tracking various factors such as sales, employment, inventories, and prices within France. It is worth noting that preliminary estimates are based on approximately 85% of total responses to the monthly purchasing managers' survey.