China Services PMI Jumps To 52.4 In January – Caixin

India’s services output grew to a 19-month high in January as higher demand increased business inflows, a survey showed on Wednesday.

The index edged up to 49.6 in January from 49.1 in December but remained below the 50 mark that seperates expansion from contraction. The Republic’s manufacturing sector contracted for the seventh straight month in January although the start of the year is traditionally busier ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. “The poor figures showed that even seasonal stronger demand is unable to lift the manufacturing sector upwards and only a structural improvement can help this sector”.

Higher workloads encouraged service providers to hire additional staff in January, following a stagnation in the prior month. Backlogs were accumulated at a moderate rate that, however, was the strongest since October 2014.

The Nikkei Singapore PMI is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to executives in more than 400 private sector companies, selected to represent the structure of Singapore’s economy, including manufacturing, services, construction and retail.

On a 3-month moving average basis, China Services PMI stood at 51.3 in January 2016, exactly the same as for the 3-month period through October 2015 and down on 52.7 reading for the 3-month average through January 2015.

Investors are also anxious about the prospect of undue political interference in economic policy after President Jacob Zuma suddenly fired the finance minister in December. There were some mentions of higher prices paid for food.

January saw a modest increase in stocks of purchases, mainly the result of a further rise in the level of input buying activity. Factory gate prices were raised at a broadly similar pace to December.

The survey respondents were also bullish about the output growth. Additionally, the degree of optimism registered in January was the most pronounced in six months.