Ai Group's performance index for the manufacturing sector

AIG Performance of Manufacturing index for May - early leak has it at 52.3

  • a jump of 4.3 points from the prior of 48.0

Key Findings from the Australian Industry Group report (bolding mine):

  • In expansion for the first time since November 2014
  • Five of the eight manufacturing sub-sectors expanded in May: food, beverages & tobacco (up 4.6 points to 59.8); non-metallic mineral products (down 4.3 points to 50.2); printing & recorded media (up 0.7 points to 62.2); wood & paper products (up 4.0 points to 59.3) and, for the first time in a year, petroleum, coal, chemicals & rubber products (up 12.4 points to 51.8)
  • Machinery and equipment (down 2.8 points to 43.2); metal products (down 2.0 points to 40.4); and the textiles, clothing & furniture (up 2.2 points to 46.6) sub-sectors all continued to contract this month
  • After all seven activity sub-indexes contracted in April, five returned to expansion in May, with manufacturing production (up 3.6 points to 52.9) ending six months of contraction; new orders (up 5.4 points to 52.8) ending five months of contraction; and supplier deliveries (up 6.9 points to 54.0) ending three months of contraction
  • Manufacturing exports strongly returned to expansion (up 10.9 points to 58.3) after a brief contraction in April, while employment was broadly stable (up 1.7 points to 50.9) after four months of contraction
  • Manufacturing stock levels almost stabilised (up 3.6 points to 49.5), while the sales sub-index contracted for a 12th consecutive month, but at a slower pace (up 3.2 points to 47.9)
  • Input costs remain elevated (largely unchanged at 69.4), while a steady wages sub-index (down 1.5 points to 55.3) suggests that annual wages growth is likely to have remained contained so far in Q2. Manufacturing selling prices contracted for a second month in May (up 1.6 points to 47.2), indicating fierce competition and ongoing margin pressures for manufacturers

Note ... this data point is not usually much of an FX market mover. Lives up its reputation today ...