Better PMI news today from China in a not worse non-manufacturing PMI at 54.4 versus 54.2 last month. Good news in that this PMI also covers construction.
The HSBC version is out too and looks better as well:
Chinese service providers saw a solid rise in business activity during August, following a stagnation of activity in July. Moreover, it was the strongest increase in activity for 17 months. Growth was driven by a similarly robust rise in total new business. Higher volumes of new work also led to a further expansion of workforce numbers, which contributed to the quickest reduction of work-in-hand for 21 months.
Increased business activity and greater inflows of new work led to an improved level of optimism towards the 12-month business outlook in August. Furthermore, the degree of positive sentiment was the strongest since March.
After adjusting for seasonal factors, the HSBC China Services Business Activity Index posted at 54.1 in August, and signalled a solid expansion of activity over the month. This was up from July’s record low index reading of 50.0 that indicated a stagnation of activity. Furthermore, the latest expansion of business activity was the strongest since March 2013. A number of panellists attributed growth to higher new business volumes.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
