Flash PMIs Bash the Open

Are you noticing a a new theme here – Monday mornings getting off on the wrong foot with headline-driven triple-digit Dow sell-offs?

We are.

Today’s opening bloodbath (although it’s still early) brought to you by Flash PMIs from around the world…

From the EconBrothers:

Euro area “flash” PMIs came in on the weak side in April and suggesting that weak foreign demand and the ongoing deterioration of business sentiment is unlikely to revert soon. How deep this weakness will be will depend on how severe the euro area sovereign crisis remains and on the health of the global economy. A decline in composite PMIs was owing to weak conditions in both manufacturing and services sectors. To some extent, while the latter was predictable owing to a recent deepening of the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area, we think that the former warrants particular attention as it is key to assess whether the euro area economy will suffer a mild recession this year or will instead experience a more severe slowdown. While it is too early to take a bold view on this, note that export orders suggest that a moderation in global growth is filtering through the euro area economy, and in particular in Germany. Overall, in light of the latest PMI data, downside risks to euro area growth reign.

China’s ‘flash’ April PMI was 49.1, up from 48.3 in March and the Q1 average of 48.9. While the reading was below the ’50’ threshold, nonetheless it is still consistent with moderate expansion in Chinese industrial production, based on the historic relation of the two series. Within the Chinese PMI, the ‘flash’ new orders was at 48.9, up from 47.4 in March, while the output balance was at 49.1, up from 47.3 in the final March reading.

Maybe Apple’s earnings will save us.  That seems to be the bull case at present, anyway…

Source:

EconBrothers Morning Macro, 4/23/12 (EconBrothers)