Purchasing managers say Europe's cloud is lifting

Countries across the Eurozone – including Ireland – report better-than-expected manufacturing output for December.

Today is Purchasing Managers Index day, and across the eurozone, reports indicate that the recovery strengthened in December.

Countries including Germany, France, Ireland, and Italy all reported much better than expected manufacturing numbers.

This is key: One of Europe’s biggest (and obvious) headwinds is the drag from austerity. If a robust global recovery and a weak euro can counteract that, and actually propel growth across the region this is huge. If you figure that a stronger-than-expected economy could result in higher-than-expected tax receipts, and thus lower-than-expected deficits, you can begin to piece together a path for the Eurozone, despite its fundamental flaws.

Not surprisingly, European stock markets are turning in really solid gains, with the CAC-40 (France) up over 2%, and the Dax up 1.5%.

Ironically, the big miss in Europe came out of Switzerland, home to the uber-strong Euro-alternative, the Swiss Franc.

Click here for a full list of European PMIs >

Reproduced with permission from BusinessInsider.com.