Eurozone business growth slows in September, PMI survey finds

Eurozone business growth cooled in September for a second consecutive month, dropping to its slowest pace since December, a survey suggests.

The latest Markit Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 52.3 from August's 52.5.

A reading above 50 indicates growth.

Modest growth in Europe's biggest economy, Germany, provided some cheer, but the eurozone was brought down by stagnation elsewhere, particularly in France, where PMI fell to 49.1.

Manufacturing across the eurozone fared worse than the service sector, with the PMI reading falling to 50.5, the lowest measure since July of last year.

"The survey paints a picture of ongoing malaise in the eurozone economy," said Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist.

"With growth of output and

OECD sees global economy held back by slow eurozone

A slow recovery among nations using the euro is holding back the global economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has said.

The market economy group downgraded its growth forecast for most big economies.

Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and the referendum on an independent Scotland are areas of risk and uncertainty, it said.

Its 2014 estimate is a 0.8% increase in the eurozone economy for 2014, compared with a forecast of 1.2% made in May.

The UK's forecast was cut by

ECB’s last roll of the dice

Today is a big day in the history of the Eurozone, for three reasons (always good to have the big three).

First an ideological Rubicon has been crossed by the European Central Bank (ECB) - because in trying to cut interest rates and increase the supply of credit in a stagnating Europe, it is engaging for the first time in a form of quantitative easing.

For the avoidance of confusion, its QE will be purchases of private sector bonds - what are known as asset backed securities - rather than government bonds.

But as the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said in his press conference today, this bond-purchase initiative is a break with the ECB's history, in the sense that

Swiss economy fails to grow as EU stagnates

Switzerland's economy failed to grow in the second quarter of the year, according to the country's State Secretariat for Economics.

The much weaker-than-expected figure came after exports were affected by weakness in the rest of Europe and construction spending fell.

The zero growth in the quarter was the weakest performance for two years.

Compared with a year earlier gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.6% higher, well below forecasts of 1.7%.

"For us it's really below expectations. We expected a bit more growth," said Maxime Botteron from Credit Suisse.

"The trend in exports is not a big surprise. Trade data so far already pointed to a

Eurozone manufacturing at 13-month low

Manufacturing growth in the eurozone slowed to a 13-month low in August, according to a closely-watched survey.

The final Markit's Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dipped to 50.7 in August, down from 51.8 in July. A figure above 50 indicates expansion.

New orders dwindled and factories suffered amid rising tensions between the EU and Russia over Ukraine.

The figures come ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting on Thursday.

Markets will be looking for a clear plan from the bank to deal with a stalled eurozone recovery, as well as the threat of deflation with inflation standing at just 0.3%.

There is speculation that ECB boss Mario Draghi could offer further indications later this week that he is considering a quantitative easing scheme for the eurozone, similar to those taken by