Italy on the edge, struggling to avoid Greece’s fate
A composite index that measures business activity at thousands of manufacturers and service sector companies across Europe indicates the eurozone may already be in recession, Reuters reports. The flash Markit eurozone purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.2 this month from 49.1–where values below the 50 indicate a contraction. The reading was below economists’ forecasts, and “it definitely suggests recession from this point,” Jeavon Lolay, head of global research at Lloyds Banking Group, told Reuters. Eurozone leaders have pledged to agree on new, comprehensive measures to contain the continent’s sovereign debt crisis by Wednesday. Meanwhile, concern is mounting that Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is not doing enough to reduce his country’s debt and restore investors’ confidence.