Hong Kong's Nikkei Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for August: 44.4
- 48.2 prior
44.4 ... that can't be an auspicious number, right?
Anyway ... lowest since April 2009
6th successive monthly deterioration
New orders from China down the most in 80 months
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Annabel Fiddes, Economist at Markit:
- "Hong Kong's private sector saw the quickest deterioration in overall operating conditions since the global financial crisis in August, driven in part by steep contractions in both output and new orders.
- Another worrying development was the sharper rate of job cuts in August, with the latest fall in employment the fastest since April 2003.
- The data continue to point to weaker demand conditions amid an uncertain global economic outlook, as fears continue to mount over China's growth prospects.
- The latest set of PMI data signalled that new business from Mainland China placed at Hong Kong's private sector firms dropped at the sharpest rate since late-2008, and remains a key factor weighing on overall new work.
- It seems unlikely that the performance of the sector will improve unless demand conditions pick up, as further cuts to output, staff numbers and purchasing activity suggest that the sector will remain in contractionary territory at least in the near-term."
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More evidence (if any more was needed) of weakness in China
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Meanwhile, AUD/JPY:
