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.