Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI of 48.4 for July was the lowest since June 2009.
This, however, followed a steeper decline in the Chicago PMI, its third consecutive decline.
Markit said the composite output PMI was at 47.7 in May, up from 46.9 in April.
Yet at the same time, the employment components of recent PMI reports have been pretty good.
Today's PMI survey in manufacturing shows a further decline in manufacturing activity in February.
The preliminary reading of HSBC's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.5, from 51.6 in March.
The slightly better PMI reading for March did slightly lift the Shanghai stock market.
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Meantime, France's PMI rose to 44.2 in April, from a four-year low in March.
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The headline manufacturing PMI eased to 50.4 when consensus estimates had it at 52.
The PMI index for Germany fell to 50.8, its lowest level since July of 2009.
There was another disappointing economic report from Spain Tuesday, as its services sector PMI fell sharply.
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The German data is also stronger than expected, where the services PMI bounced to 54.7.
The full barrage of Eurozone PMI released earlier was not too far off expectations.
Employment in the sector showed a "fractional decline" in October, the PMI survey said.
The preliminary reading of HSBC's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 51.7, from 50.4 in February.
The preliminary reading of the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was 51.9, compared with 51.5 in December.
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The HSBC preliminary reading, called Flash PMI, is a private survey of more than 420 companies.
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French Services PMI, German Services PMI and German Manufacturing PMI all soared well past expectations.
Manufacturing activity in France shrank markedly while in Italy the PMI dropped to 45.8.
The Chinese PMI tends to lead the Euro-area on by three months, statistically speaking.
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The overall EU services PMI came in slightly better than expected but was still weak, overall.
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The Bank of Scotland PMI report suggested the highest level of business activity for seven months.
Several Chinese economic data releases are slated for the week, starting Saturday, with NBS Manufacturing PMI.
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Those releases include the Nationwide and Halifax House Price Indexes as well as Manufacturing PMI data.
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The Eurozone PMI dipped into contraction territory, coming in at 49 from 50.4 in July.
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China's PMI, which surveys big firms, fell to 50.4 in January from 50.6 in December.
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This month, the Flash PMI came in at 51.9, beating market consensus, which was at 51.7.
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The PMI stands at a two-year high, as you can see in the chart below.
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Its services PMI reading for Germany last month was 52.1, down from 52.8 in February.
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