Mumbai, Feb. 3 -- The downturn in Germany's manufacturing sector softened in January, with goods producers reporting the slowest declines in both output and new orders for eight months, the latest HCOB PMI survey showed.
Expectations towards the outlook meanwhile improved, but businesses nevertheless continued to cut workforce numbers as efforts were made to trim surplus capacity. Weak demand conditions once again weighed on manufacturers' pricing power at the start of 2025. That said, discounting was the least prevalent for five months as input costs continued to trend towards stabilisation.
The headline HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI - a gauge of overall business conditions derived from measures of new orders, output, employment, suppli...