Markit Economics released its preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for France on Monday. France's preliminary manufacturing PMI rose to 50.3 in February from 50.0 in January, beating forecasts of a decline to 49.9.

France's preliminary services PMI fell to 49.8 in February from 50.6 in January. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged at 50.3.

"The private sector economy continues to follow a broadly stagnant path, with first-quarter GDP looking likely to remain sluggish following a 0.2% rise at the end of 2015. The combination of weak demand conditions and strong competitive pressures saw firms' output prices cut at the sharpest rate in over a year, pointing to continued downward pressure on inflation," the Senior Economist at Markit Jack Kennedy said.