Markets buoyed by slim manufacturing improvement

May showed the Irish manufacturing sector as being in a situation of slower deterioration rather than recovery. Photo: iStock

Early suggestions that European manufacturing activity may have suffered its worst with its April collapse and could be recovering buoyed stock markets, along with fears of escalating tensions between the US and China not materialising as yet.

The pan-European Stoxx-600 index finished up 1.1%, holding at its highest level since March 9 even as trading activity was dulled by market holidays for Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway.