0100 GMT China official PMIs for March, improvement expected

  • Manufacturing expected 51.2, prior 50.6

  • Non-manufacturing expected 52.0, prior 51.4

  • Composite prior 51.6

The following via Reuters:

Via Morgan Stanley:

  • "The key driver (in March PMI) is likely to be continued resilience in external demand, as shown by Korea's daily exports in the first 20 days of March, which accelerated to 6.5% on a 2Y CAGR basis vs. 5.2% for full month of February"
  • "This would boost export orders and production."

And:

  • Analysts at Industrial Bank in Shanghai attributed the acceleration to more working days in March and an earlier than usual resumption of business at Chinese factories this year.
  • Millions of workers who normally travel home over the Lunar New Year holiday had stayed put this year due to COVID-19 fears. That kept factories humming over the period.