Eurozone manufacturing and services sectors continued to contract in April, but the rate of decline continued to slow, according to the latest flash readings from the monthly surveys of purchasing managers. The preliminary Markit euro-zone PMI rose to 40.5 from a reading of 38.3 in March, a six-month high. The April services PMI rose to 43.1 from 40.9 in March, exceeding forecasts for a reading of 41.2. April manufacturing PMI rose to 43.1 from 33.9 in March, while expectations were for a reading of 41.2. A figure of less than 50 means a majority of purchasing managers saw a drop in activity, while a reading of more than 50 signals expansion.br /br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SfA3aBFMQZI/AAAAAAAANlY/PkhmfyQQxr0/s1600-h/eurozone+composite+PMI.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327819279285633426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 228px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SfA3aBFMQZI/AAAAAAAANlY/PkhmfyQQxr0/s400/eurozone+composite+PMI.png" border="0" //abr /br /br /strongGermany/strongbr /br /Activity in German manufacturers and service sector firms dropped for an eighth ...