This is what Marc Chandler was highlighting early this morning:
...Asia PacificChina's economic recovery is gaining ground and the forecasts for tomorrow's PMI looks for more gains. The composite was below the 50 boom/bust level in the last three months of 2022 (finishing at 42.9) but jumped back to 52.9, the highest since last June in January. The February reading is expected to rise further as the manufacturing and service PMIs likely rose. It will be reported early on March 1....
- China’s official manufacturing PMI hit 52.6 in February, above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction.
- China Beige Book’s chief economist Derek Scissors expects to see an improvement in consumption later this year.
China’s factory activity for February bounced further into expansion territory, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.6 in February – above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction. That marks the highest reading since April 2012, when it hit 53.5.
February’s PMI reading is also higher than the 50.1 reported for January and above expectations of 50.5, according to economists surveyed by Reuters.
Non-manufacturing PMI also grew further to 56.3 from January’s print of 54.4, when it saw a sharp improvement backed by a recovery in services and construction activity....
....MUCH MORE
The yuan has been strengthening (down is stronger) against the dollar for the last couple days but since the PMI numbers not so much:
