EFTA Document EFTA01459721

5 February 2016 Focus Europe: Dark clouds, no storm yet Italy was the main disappointment relative to expectations in the January PMI print. The 2.2 point decline in the composite PMI was the sharpest monthly fall since August 2014. Both services (53.6 vs 55.3 Dec, 54.2 exp) and manufacturing (53.2 vs 55.6 Dec, 54.9 exp.) saw steep declines. However, we must note that the decline comes after an unexpected rise to a new post-201 1 high in December. At the 53.8 January level the Italian co