Euro slides despite improvement in eurozone economy

French and German equities rose in morning trading as eurozone manufacturing data hit a 10-month high. The flash estimate fell slightly short of market forecasts but still indicated expansion above 50 at 52.2 for the month of May. Spain, the Netherlands and Italy were the top contributors to the growth while France slowed. However, the 23rd consecutive monthly growth figure will add to expectations of an improvement in GDP.   The good news came alongside early indication of an improvement in German inflation from +0.3% in April to +0.6% in May, marking a solid bounce from the minus -0.5% figure in March.  However, the Euro currency traded weaker as stalled Greek talks focused attention on EUR 300 million payment due to the IMF on 5th June.