French business activity stable in December despite pension strike - PMI

PARIS (Reuters) - French business grew at a steady pace in December despite a nationwide strike against pension reform, although activity in the manufacturing sector came unexpectedly close to stagnating, a survey showed on Monday.Data compiler IHS Markit said that its preliminary monthly purchasing managers index fell marginally to 52.0 from 52.1 in November, in line with economists' expectations in a Reuters poll.Though a three-month low, the result was comfortably above the 50-point level..