Germany's private sector economy grew solidly at the start of the second quarter. The pace of expansion stabilised after having slipped to eightmonth low in March, according to the latest PMI survey data from IHS Markit. The rate of job creation picked up to its highest for three months; however, there was less optimism among businesses towards the outlook for activity in the year ahead amid a further slowdown in new order growth.

The IHS Markit Flash Germany Manufacturing PMI meanwhile registered a reading of 58.1 in April. Although little-changed from March's 58.2 and pointing to another strong monthly improvement in overall manufacturing sector performance, this was the lowest reading since July 2017.