The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI fell to a 14-month low of 50.6 in August of 2018 from 50.8 in the previous month. New orders grew the least since May 2017; new export orders shrank for the fifth month in a row; and employment remained on a downward trend, which, in turn, contributed to an increase in outstanding workloads. On the price front, inflationary pressure picked up, with firms noting steeper increases in both input costs and output charges.
Meanwhile the Nikkei Japan Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.5 in August of 2018 from a final 52.3 in July, final data showed. The latest reading pointed to an extension of the current growth cycle in the manufacturing sector to two years, the longest uninterrupted stretch of expansion since the global financial crisis. In terms of inflation, cost pressures were sustained, leading companies to increase selling prices at the steepest rate in almost ten years.