The reading from this morning’s SVME purchasing managers index (PMI) out of Switzerland underscored a moderate uptick in the level of economic optimism among purchasing managers. The forecast was for a dip from last month’s 53.5 reading to 51.1. The actual results came in at 51.7, suggesting better conditions than were previously assumed.
Data on retail sales from Switzerland, however, seemed to contradict the notion of healthy growth. Economists were expecting the retail sales report to dip from last month’s reading of 7.9% growth, year-on-year, to 4.6% in the month of August. The actual results were far more dismal at 1.9%, suggesting an impending bearish turn for the Swiss franc (CHF) from decreased demand.
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