Catching up on this, my focus was the jobs report from Australia :

Japan (March, preliminary) manufacturing PMI from Markit / Nikkei: 53.2 (prior 54.1)

  • Weakest improvement in business conditions since October 2017
  • New orders increase, albeit to weakest extent in five months
  • Job creation eases amid joint-softest pace of output growth since July 2017

Commenting on the Japanese Manufacturing PMI survey data, Joe Hayes, Economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said:

  • "The headline PMI declined in March, signalling a weaker improvement in overall business conditions in the manufacturing sector. Output, new order and employment growth rates all slowed, while longer lead times continued to impact supply capacities.
  • That said, with new business increasing for an eighteenth straight month, firms raised output prices to a quicker extent, signalling confidence in the demand climate and purchasing power of their clients. Despite two months of weaker headline PMI readings, the 2018 Q1 average still signals a robust operating environment."