Business activity in the eurozone expanded in March for the ninth month in a row, a key indicator showed Monday, adding to hopes that the currency bloc is on the road to economic recovery, dpa reported. The London-based research group Markit said its closely watched Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the region's manufacturing and service sectors clocked 53.2 - just slightly below the 32-month high of 53.3 that it had hit a month earlier. Particularly encouraging was the fact that France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, saw growth return to its output and new orders, the research group said. Germany, the region's economic powerhouse, saw its output grow less than before, but its companies are expected to see "further robust growth in the coming months," according to Markit. The Markit index is based on a survey of about 5,000 companies in the 18-country eurozone.
