BusinessNZ manufacturing PMI for January: 51.6 (prior 54.5)

BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index.

The prior is revised to 54.2

NOTE: COMMENTS FROM RBNZ IMPACTING NZD

BusinessNZ's executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard:

• Decrease in expansion for the first month of 2017 was not ideal, it was clear from comments that a number of factors played a part
• "Those who outlined negative comments noted the Xmas/holiday break playing a sizeable role in reduced activity, as did weather conditions. On the flip side, those who outlined positive comments often did not note anything specific, but more business as usual"
• "Combined, this meant that the proportion of positive comments dropped from 70% in December to 59.5% in January"

BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert

• "the slowdown in expansion was mainly because of a marked slowdown in its production index, which dampens expectations of a big bounce in the PMI over the short term".