Euro area business activity sees further pick up in August despite France, Germany softness

August flash services PMI 51.7 vs 51.5 expected Prior 51.7 August flash manufacturing PMI 52.8 vs 51.8 expected Prior 51.9 August flash composite PMI 52.1 vs 51.7 expected Prior 52.0 After the misses from France and Germany, this is a bit of a surprise - especially the services sector estimate. The pace of expansion in the services sector was unchanged from July but comes in better than what we…