Japan S&P Global / Jinun Bank Flash PMIs for July 2023

Manufacturing PMI 49.4

• prior 49.8

Services 53.9

• prior 54.0

Composite 52.1

• prior 52.1

Commentary from the report on the Composite PMI indicator, both those on inflation, fitting with what we’ve been seeing for months now from higher CPI readings:

• Activity at Japanese private sector firms increased for the seventh
  successive month
• Central to the
  upturn in output was a sustained and solid improvement at Japanese
  service providers, while manufacturers noted a slightly softer
  downturn at the start of the third quarter. That said, demand
  conditions at private sector firms were less buoyant than in the
  previous survey period with latest data pointing to only a marginal
  increase in new orders.
• New work at manufacturing firms fell at the
  strongest rate since March, while service providers saw the slowest
  uptick in incoming business since the start of the year.
• The second half of 2023 also brought with it a renewed strengthening
  in price pressures in the Japanese private sector economy. The rate of
  input price inflation accelerated for the first time since January amid a
  stronger increase in cost burdens at service providers, who largely
  attributed the rise to increased labour, fuel and raw material costs.
  Higher operating expenses pushed private sector companies to raise
  output charges at a stronger rate during July, with both
  manufacturers and service providers signalling steeper rates of output
  price inflation.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.