Markit Economics released its preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for France on Friday. France's preliminary manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.6 in August from 49.6 in July, missing forecasts of a rise to 49.7.

France's preliminary services PMI fell to 51.8 in August from 52.0 in July. Analysts had expected the index to remain unchanged at 52.0.

"Output growth in France's private sector economy cooled to a four-month low in August, suggesting that third-quarter GDP may disappoint again following stagnation in Q2. An improvement in service providers' business expectations to a near three-and-a-half year high provided some rare positive news, but manufacturing continued to struggle amid a sharper drop in new orders," the Senior Economist at Markit Jack Kennedy said.