August PMI Manufacturing Indices, SCO Summit in China and Labor Day Holiday Closures in the United States & Canada – Currency Thoughts
August PMI Manufacturing Indices, SCO Summit in China and Labor Day Holiday Closures in the United States & Canada
September 1, 2025
(176) Market activity this Monday has been muted by the Labor Day observances in the U.S. and Canada. The dollar is 0.2% softer against the euro and sterling, unchanged relative to the loonie, and 0.1% firmer against the yen. Ten-year sovereign debt yields rose three basis points overnight in Japan and two bps in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Asian stock markets diverged, with Hong Kong, China and India advancing by 2.2%, 0.5% and 0.7% but South Korea, Japan and Indonesia sinking 1.4%, 1.2% and 1.2%. Oil, gold and Bitcoin prices are up 1.3%, 0.7% and 0.6%.
France’s parliament faces a vote of no confidence scheduled one week from today.
The annual summit over this past weekend of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) in China provided an opportunity for China, India, and Russia among others to take a stand of unity against the America First movement of U.S. President Trump. As the adage goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Manufacturer purchasing manager survey results are reported on the first business day of each calendar month. Indices above 50 indicate improved operating conditions compared to the prior month, and vice versa. The further away from the 50 neutral level the faster was the detected change in conditions. Economies that experienced faster improvement in manufacturing last month included Australia (a 35-month high of 53.0), Thailand (a 13-month high of 52.7), India (a record high of 59.3), Sweden (a 53-month high of 55.3), Greece (a 3-month high of 54.5), Spain (a 10-month high of 54.3), and Euroland (a 41-month high of 50.7).
Economies whose rate of deterioration slowed included Taiwan (a 2-month high of 47.4), South Korea (a 2-month high of 48.3), Japan (a 2-month 49.7), Russia (a 3-month high of 48.7), China as compiled by NBS (a 2-month high of 49.4), Poland (a 3-month high of 46.6), Turkey (a 4-month high of 47.3), Switzerland (a 2-month high of 49.0), and Germany (a 38-month high of 49.8).
Economies whose rate of deterioration deepened included the Czech Republic (a 3-month low of 49.4), and Great Britain (a 3-month low of 47.3).
Economies whose PMI readings moved from below-fifty to above-fifty included Indonesia (a 5-month high of 51.5), the Caixin Chinese survey (a 5-month high of 50.5), Italy (a 17-month high of 50.4), and France (a 31-month high of 50.4).
Economies whose PMI scores shifted from above-fifty to below-fifty included Norway (a 2-month low of 49.6), Hungary (a 10-month low of 48.9), and the Absa-compiled South African survey (a 2-month low of 49.5).
Economies whose rate of improvement slowed included the Philippines (a 7-month low of 50.8) and Ireland (a 4-month low of 51.6).
The Dutch manufacturing purchasing managers index of 51.9 in August was unchanged from its 14-month high in July.
The government-authorized Chinese non-manufacturing PMI index compiled by NBS fell to an 8-month low of 50.3.
Japanese business investment in machinery and equipment last quarter increased by a greater-than-forecast 7.6% last quarter.
Euroland’s unemployment rate of 6.2% in July was down from 6.3% in June and matched this year’s lowest point hit in March.
The year-on-year change in the British Nationwide house price index, which had imploded from 14.3% in August 2022 to -5.3% in April 2023, returned to June’s 2.1% reading this month from 2.4% in July.
Producer price inflation in Hungary of 4.5% in July was down from 5.1% in June and half as much as the 9.1% reading in the first month of 2025, but it was still well above the 0.9% low last September.
Consumer price inflation in Indonesia slid less than a tenth of a percentage point to a 2-month low of 2.31% this month.
Turkish GDP grew by a faster-than-forecast 1.6% last quarter and consequently doubled the on-year advance to 4.8%. That was the fastest on-year increase in five quarters.
Poland reconfirmed a quarterly 0.8% GDP increase in 2Q 2025 resulting in a 3.4% increase from a year earlier.
On-year Serbian GDP growth got revised up 0.1 percentage point to 2.1%. In Lithuania, GDP rose 0.3% on quarter and 3.1% on year last quarter.
Copyright 2025, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: manufacturing purchasing managers surveys
ShareThisYou can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
