Eurozone business activity continued to rise at a solid pace in April, though the rate of expansion remained considerably weaker than seen earlier in the year amid signs of weaker growth of demand and supply constraints. Slower inflows of new orders, alongside weakened optimism about the business outlook, suggests that growth could slow further in May. Price pressures meanwhile eased during the month from recent elevated levels.

The IHS Markit Eurozone PMI held steady at 55.2 in April, according to flash survey data based on approximately 80% of final responses. The unchanged reading indicated the joint-weakest expansion of business output since the start of 2017, but remained well above the average of 53.8 seen over the past five years.