France's manufacturing sector improves in April

April PMI data for France were mixed and likely to produce a tepid market reaction for French equities. The S&P Global France Composite PMI fell to 47.6 (from 48.8 in March), missing forecasts of 48.6 and signalling overall economic contraction. Offsetting that, the Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose to 52.8 (from 50.0), well above the 49.5 forecast, pointing to renewed factory-sector strength. Services PMI weakened to 46.5 (from 48.8), extending the services-sector downturn. Net effect: stronger industry data may support cyclical names and exporters, but the composite miss and soft services print create near-term headwinds for France-focused assets and could weigh on the France 40 index until clearer follow-through emerges.