Japan PMI Manufacturing rose 0.1 to 49.5 in August. PMI Services rose 1.6 to 53.4. PMI Composite rose 1.1 to 51.7.
Joe Hayes, Economists at IHS Markit noted: “Preliminary August PMI data give plenty of promise that the solid growth trend seen in the GDP outturns so far this year could indeed stretch into the third quarter, providing a timely boost before the fourth quarter, which is likely to be adversely impacted by the consequences of sales tax hike”.
“The driving force behind this remains the service sector, which is lifted by resilient demand within the domestic economy. Flash data showed services activity growing at the fastest rate in almost two years in August, allaying fears, at least for the time being, that strong external headwinds being felt within manufacturing could spread to other parts of the economy.”
