The data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is here:
In brief:
Manufacturing PMI 50.1
- slightly down from 50.3 in November
- third consecutive month of expansion
- fell short of the median forecast of 50.3
Non-Manufacturing PMI jumped to 52.2
- from 50.0 in November
- the non-manufacturing PMI covers the services and construction sectors
Composite PMI combines both manufacturing and non-manufacturing activities came in at 50.3
- slightly down from 50.4 in November
Maybe its just me but the acceleration in services is encouraging. The efforts to stimulate manufacturing are suspected of being a little misplaced, sending goods into domestic markets that are already well supplied and flirting with price deflation. Services and construction rising (an acceleration in expansion for the non-manufacturing sectors, in the PMI at least) would seem to be a more desirable outcome.
My interest was piqued, too, by the rise in AUD ahead of the data release. Leaky? Or just China being China?
