Eurozone holds onto timid recovery

A timid economic recovery in the eurozone is still holding, a closely-watched survey showed on Thursday, but at a pace that promises only negligible growth for the year.

The latest data pushed down eurozone government borrowing costs, with traders more confident that the European Central Bank will take extra measures to inject cash into the single-currency zone.

"The eurozone economy continued to make steady progress in August, as the region looks to bounce back following the recent weaker-than-expected GDP (gross domestic product) readings," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at the private Markit research group that published the data.

Still, the bloc looks set "to register growth of only around 0.3-0.4 percent in the third quarter, a level that is unlikely to stimulate any real turnaround in the labour market," Dobson added.