Italian services sector sees stronger growth in April, PMI shows

ROME (Reuters) -Italy's services sector expanded for a fifth month running in April and at a faster pace than the month before, driven by a boost in new business, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The HCOB Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for services rose to 52.9 in April from 52.0 in March, moving further above the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction.

A Reuters survey of six analysts had pointed to a reading of 51.4.

Cyrus de la Rubia, Chief Economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank AG, said services in the euro zone's third largest economy were now showing "relatively robust growth."

The survey's new business sub-index came in at 52.7 from a previous 51.8.

HCOB's sister survey for the manufacturing sector, published on Friday, showed contraction for a 13th straight month in April, but at a markedly slower pace than the month before.

The composite PMI, combining manufacturing and services, rose to 52.1 in April from 50.5 in March, marking the strongest expansion in nearly a year and offering hope of firmer growth for Italy's sluggish economy.

"The Italian private sector has grown for three months in a row, led by the service sector, while manufacturing output has practically stopped shrinking after a year," said HCOB's de la Rubia.

Italian gross domestic product rose by 0.3% in the first quarter from the previous three months, according to a flash estimate issued last week by national statistics bureau ISTAT, a slightly stronger reading than expected.

The latest moderately positive signs come after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government last month halved its forecast for full-year growth in 2025 to 0.6%, in the face of mounting uncertainty linked to U.S. trade tariff policies.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones and Toby Chopra)