LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Global services and manufacturing activity contracted at the slowest pace in seven months in April with indexes registering the greatest month-on-month gains in the Global PMI's 10-year history, JP Morgan said on Thursday.
The Global Total Output Index, produced by JP Morgan with research and supply management organisations, rose to 43.2 in April from 40.2 in March, but was below the 50.0 mark that divides growth from contraction for the eleventh consecutive month.
"The PMI is on a path consistent with a stabilisation in the economy by midyear, lifting hopes that growth will resume in the second half of the year," said David Hensley a director at JP Morgan, in a release.
The global service sector indicator also rose but remained in negative territory for the 11th consecutive month, lifting to 43.8 in April from 41.5 the previous month.
The 16-nation euro zone's dominant service sector contracted sharply again in April, but the euro zone PMI staged its biggest one-month rise since December 2001, while the UK service sector contracted at its slowest pace since last August.
The U.S. service sector also contracted less severely in April, raising hopes the world's largest economy has hit bottom and may now begin to recover.
The index combines data from countries including the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia. (For a TABLE see) (Reporting by Jonathan Cable; editing by Stephen Nisbet)