On Saturday we had the first round of Chinese PMIs for August:
- China August Manufacturing PMI 49.1 (expected 49.5), Services 50.3 (expected 50.0)
- manufacturing PMI has fallen for six months in a row
- 49.1 is a six-month low
- factory gate prices were their lowest in 14 months (42.0, sharply down from already weak 46.3 in July)
- the sub indexes for new orders and new export orders remained in contraction
- the employment sub index was also weak
- the non-manufacturing PMI rose to 50.3 from 50.2 in July
China has two primary Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) surveys - the official PMI released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Caixin China PMI published by the media company Caixin and research firm Markit / S&P Global.
- The official PMI survey covers large and state-owned companies, while the Caixin PMI survey covers small and medium-sized enterprises. As a result, the Caixin PMI is considered to be a more reliable indicator of the performance of China's private sector.
- Another difference between the two surveys is their methodology. The Caixin PMI survey uses a broader sample of companies than the official survey.
- Despite these differences, the two surveys often provide similar readings on China's manufacturing sector.
- The Caixin manufacturing PMI is today, Monday. Services follows on Wednesday.
The Ciaxin reading today is expected to improve to expansion in August.
- This snapshot from the ForexLive economic data calendar, access it here.
- The times in the left-most column are GMT.
- The numbers in the right-most column are the 'prior' (previous month/quarter as the case may be) result. The number in the column next to that, where there is a number, is the consensus median expected.
