Merkel Hollande RenziREUTERS/Andrew Winning
Eurozone services PMIs rolled out on Monday morning — the business surveys give us an early look at what's happening in Europe's massive services industry in September, before any official data comes out.
The flash PMI, based on the early returns of the survey and for which only details of France and Germany are available, came in at 54. The full reading was weaker than expected at 53.7.
That's above the neutral 50 level, indicating growth. But it's also a four-month low for the index, suggesting that Europe's modest growth might have already peaked.
Here's the breakdown:
  • Spain: 55.1 (58.5 expected, 59.6 previous)
  • Italy: 53.3 (54 expected, 54.6 previous)
  • France: 51.9 (51.2 expected, 50.6 previous)
  • Germany: 54.1 (54.3 expected, 54.9 previous)
  • Eurozone total: 53.7 (54 expected, 54.4 previous)
The figure for Spain was particularly disappointing. Markit senior economist Andrew Harker had this to say, suggesting the economy's rapid growth may have peaked: 
While we continued to see solid growth in the Spanish service sector in September, there was a marked easing in the rate of expansion to the lowest in 2015 so far. Combined with a growth slowdown in the manufacturing sector, this suggests that the upturn in Spain may have peaked during the third quarter of the year. The rest of the year will be crucial in determining whether the Spanish economy continues to improve or eases back towards stagnation.