"The euro zone's economic recovery lost a little momentum last month, according to surveys that showed only modest growth in German and French businesses.
Data from non-euro zone Britain impressed again, however, and German industrial orders jumped underlining the uneven nature of overall European recovery.
Wednesday's purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) from Markit showed the pace of growth in euro zone businesses slipped last month, although not nearly as badly as first projections.
Taken as a whole, the indexes pointed to fragile economic growth that will do little to ease the pressure on the European Central Bank to take some action, although not perhaps at its policy meeting on Thursday.
With surprisingly low inflation last month, speculation in markets and among economists has grown that the ECB is primed to stimulate the economy again - perhaps next month.
Overall, the tone of the data on Wednesday were mixed. German industrial orders rose at a far faster pace than expected in September, but euro zone retails sales slipped more than predicted during the same month.
By contrast, British indicators added to evidence the UK is spearheading Europe's recovery from recession.
UK industrial output in September came in much better than the Reuters consensus, following on from Tuesday's upbeat business surveys.
The Bank of England meets on Wednesday and Thursday and is not expected to change policy, having said it will keep interest rates at their record low until unemployment falls to 7 percent.
Economists expect the Bank to bring forward its expectation for when that will happen - currently late 2016 - when it publishes new forecasts next week.
The euro tip-toed away from a seven-week low on Wednesday after the data, as talk of extending the lifespan of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus helped balance expectations of easing by the ECB in coming months".
Source: Reuters
