Japan PMIs, better for services than manufacturing
And manufacturing here;
Joe Hayes, Economist at IHS Markit:
- "The service sector continued to be the driving force behind any economic expansion in Japan as we approach the year-end. It's looking like a decent quarter of growth is going to be recorded in advance of the sales tax hike, with the PMI for the third quarter pointing to annual GDP growth of around 1%.
- "That said, forward-looking indicators from the services survey suggest that some cracks are beginning to appear. New order growth was weaker than the average in the year-to-date, which comes as a surprise given there has been no real surge of advance purchasing ahead of the scheduled tax rise next month. Furthermore, employment growth was muted amid reports of retirements.
- "The alarming divergence between manufacturing and services, something which is apparent across many advanced economies, remains at large in Japan. However, underwhelming new business growth suggests that downside risks in the service sector are appearing."
USD/JPY has been a little bit weaker on the session so far, back toward, and under, its overnight low in a small range:
