AGI – The manufacturing sector is growing in the Eurozone and in the USA at record levels, and a bullish wave spreads on the stock exchanges with all European and Wall Street lists positioned above + 1%. Piazza Affari has returned to pre-Covid levels
In the Eurozone in May, the manufacturing activity index calculated by Ihs Markit rose to 63.1 points from 62.9 in April, recording the highest level in the history of the survey (data for the euro zone are available since June 1997). The index remains above the 50-point threshold, which separates growth from contraction, without trend reversals for 11 consecutive months.
Manufacturers of investment goods they were the ones who once again reported the best performance, indicating fast expansions of both production and new orders. The other two categories, those of intermediate and consumer goods, recorded near-record increases. Nationally, the Netherlands recorded the largest SME, followed by Austria. In both cases, the respective SMEs have reached all-time records. Among the other six nations involved in the investigation, Ireland and Italy also recorded the highest levels of their SMEs never recorded so far, while Greece, France and Spain all reported multi-year records.
In Italy in May the index stood at 62.3 points from 60.7 points in the previous month, the best performance of operating conditions since the beginning of the history of the survey, in June 1997. Germany was the only country to record slower growth, despite the fact that it managed to achieve a rate of expansion close to the record in March. Growth in manufacturing output, despite remaining close to the survey record level in March, was the slowest observed in three months, supported by the rise in new orders.
The May investigation showed increasing sales that mark the third place among the strongest values in the historical series (exceeded only by the increases observed in the previous two months). New orders increased thanks to higher domestic and foreign demand. Production was hampered by the current difficulties in procuring goods from suppliers. Average delivery times have worsened considerably and at an unprecedented rate: once again the demand for goods has exceeded the capacity of suppliers.
Manufacturing grew at an unprecedented pace even in Britain in May, thanks to increased production and new orders. The easing of anti-Covid restrictions and high levels of pent-up demand meant that the rapid recovery in labor market conditions continued, with employment levels rising at a record pace. The PMI index, calculated by IHS Markit / Cips Purchasing Managers, rose to 65.6 in May from 60.9 in April, surpassing the previous record of 61 in July 1994.
Record also in the USA where the manufacturing PMI rose to 62.1 points in May from 60.5 points in April and from 61.5 points in the flash estimate. The May figure is the highest in the 14-year history of this indicator, calculated by Ihs Markit. The record result in May is linked to an expansion of production and an increase in new orders, although there are still serious disruptions in the supply chain.
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