China's Caixin services PMI for August came in at 46.7 vs. 52.6 expected and 54.9 last, showing that the country’s services activity returned to a contraction in the reported month.
Key findings
“The index plunged to the lowest level since the pandemic's first wave in April 2020. to the lowest level since the pandemic's first wave in April 2020.”
“The catering, transportation, accommodation and entertainment industries\ were worst hit due to the Delta covid outbreak-led lockdowns.”
Commenting on the China General Services PMI ™ data, Dr. Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin Insight Group said: "Service costs were still under great pressure amid elevated labor and transportation costs amid the Covid-19 resurgence.”
"Sluggish market demand limited businesses' bargaining power, causing prices charged by service providers to slip after a month of growth," Wang said.
"Delta is so terrible, people don't want to go out. Some extra business over national holidays in the rest of the year won't make up for the loss of the summer vacation period, he added.
AUD/USD holds around 0.7400
The downbeat Chinese Services PMI numbers failed to have any impact on the AUD bulls, as AUD/USD remains in consolidation around 0.7400.
The spot was last seen trading at 0.7401, almost unchanged on the day.
