Hong Kong: PMI continues to suggest improving business conditions in March
The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dipped to 53.5 in March from 53.9 in February. As such, the index remained above the 50.0 no-change threshold, but signaled a slightly softer improvement in private sector operating conditions compared to the previous month.
March’s reading reflected higher demand, output, purchasing activity and employment. Business sentiment dipped but remained upbeat, while supply conditions improved. Less positively, input price pressures intensified amid higher raw material, wage and currency costs, feeding through to the fastest rise in output charges in over a decade.
Jingyi Pan, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:
“Indications from the latest PMI suggested that the Hong Kong SAR economy continued to reap the benefits of the reopening in March, rounding off a strong first quarter. Furthermore, solid demand growth in March bodes well for business activity performance in the coming months, an expectation reinforced by the elevated level of business confidence according to the latest survey.”