The China Flash PMI is out and blow me down it dropped:
Flash China Manufacturing PMI™ at 48.1 in March (48.5 in February). Eight-month low.
Flash China Manufacturing Output Index at 47.3 in March (48.8 in February). Eighteen-month low. Data collected 12–20 March 2014.
The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI™) is published on a monthly basis ahead of final PMI data, making the HSBC PMI the earliest available indicator of manufacturing sector operating conditions in China. The estimate is typically based on approximately 85%–90% of total PMI survey responses each month and is designed to provide an accurate indication of the final PMI data. March final PMI data will be released on 1 April 2014.
The internals are ugly with production and new orders falling faster and inventories rising more quickly than February:
One big plus was the new export orders which jumped, perhaps on the end of the US winter, at a wild guess.
China is clearly slipping into a funk. The dollar dropped 30 pips.
