China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI for January rises slightly to 49.2 vs. 49.5 expected and 49.0 previous, showing the positive impact of the country’s covid reopening on the output levels.
Key points
Softer falls in output and new orders.
Supply chain pressures ease.
Confidence around the outlook hits highest since April 2021.
Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin Insight Group said, “Both manufacturing supply and demand continued to shrink last month, as Covid infections remained high. Output and total new orders shrank for the fifth and sixth straight months, respectively, but the contraction was milder than in December.”
“Due to mounting recession risks overseas, external demand remained weak, with the reading for new export orders also contracting for the sixth consecutive month,” Wang added.
AUD/USD remains unfazed near 0.7050
The downbeat print of the Chinese Manufacturing PMI has little to no impact on the Aussie Dollar, as AUD/USD is trading flat near 0.7050, at the time of writing.