Global Factories Struggled In July As Demand Waned

Manufacturers across Europe and Asia turned in a weak performance last month as factories grappled with tepid demand, surveys showed, raising the risk of an underpowered global economic recovery, Jonathan Cable and Leika Kihara reported for Reuters.

It was a broad-based downturn in the eurozone, while a slump in China's manufacturing activity suppressed its Asian neighbors.

It was a broad-based downturn in the eurozone, while a slump in China's manufacturing activity suppressed its Asian neighbors. British factories bucked the trend, recording their best month in two years, with output and hiring rising.

HCOB's final eurozone manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, held steady at June's 45.8 in July.

It has been below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for over two years. An index measuring output, which feeds into a composite PMI due on Monday that is seen as a good gauge of economic health, dropped to a seven-month low of 45.6.

"The turn in the manufacturing inventory cycle has yet to materialize in a context of weak global demand, leaving the eurozone short of a clear growth driver as services are slowing," said Leo Barincou at Oxford Economics.