He Australia's Judo Bank Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) hit a 24-month high of 53.6 in April, compared to 53.3 the previous month. The Australian private sector achieved an accelerated pace of growth in the second quarter, driven mainly by growth in the services sector.
Highlights
The Australian manufacturing PMI production rose to an eight-month high of 49.1 compared to 45.7 in March. The services PMI fell to 54.2 from 54.4, but has been in expansion territory for three consecutive months.
According to Warren Hogan, chief economic advisor at Judo Bank, “over the past three months, PMI results have pointed to a cyclical recovery for the Australian economy in 2024, following a consumption-driven slowdown in 2023. While this is a “Great news for the Australian economy, these results are stronger than the RBA expects, suggesting the economy is starting to move away from its 'constrained path.'”
Hogan continued: “These results are inconsistent with interest rate reductions at any time in the foreseeable future and increase the risk that the RBA will have to start raising rates again at some point in the second half of 2024.”
About Banks Australia Judo Composite PMI
The Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), published monthly by Judo Bank and S&P Global, is a leading indicator of private business activity in Australia, in both the manufacturing and services sectors. The data comes from surveys carried out with senior executives. Each response is weighted based on the size of the company and its contribution to the total manufacturing or services production of the subsector to which it belongs. Survey responses reflect the change, if any, in the current month compared to the previous month and may anticipate trend changes in official data series such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), industrial production, employment and inflation. The index varies between 0 and 100, with levels of 50.0 indicating that there have been no changes compared to the previous month. A reading above 50 indicates that the Australian private economy is generally expanding, a bullish sign for the Australian Dollar (AUD). Conversely, a reading below 50 indicates that activity is generally declining, which is considered bearish for the AUD.
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
