Australia flash PMIs preview: September data arrive days before an expected RBA hike.
Australia's preliminary S&P Global purchasing managers' indexes for September are due at 23:00 GMT (7pm US Eastern) on Wednesday, which is 9am Thursday on the east coast of Australia.
August's final readings showed the private sector still growing, but a little more slowly than in July. The services PMI slipped to 53.2 from 53.6 in July, although it remained above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction, and the final figure was an upgrade on a flash estimate of 52.9. Manufacturing held at 52.0, unchanged from July, while the composite gauge edged down to 52.7 from 53.2.
The detail beneath the headline numbers leaned inflationary. The August flash survey showed input costs rising on higher fuel, freight, commodity and raw material prices, with modest hiring and a small increase in outstanding work. In factories, growth was driven by domestic output and new orders while export demand stayed subdued.
That matters because the RBA is widely expected to tighten. The cash rate sits at 4.35% after 75 basis points of increases earlier in 2026, and all four major Australian banks now forecast a 25 basis point rise to 4.60% at the 29 September meeting.
For September's flash data, the key question is less whether the headlines stay above 50 and more what the price components show. Firm cost and selling-price gauges would add weight to the tightening case, while a sharper slowdown in services activity or hiring could sharpen the debate over November. Any surprise is likely to show up first in the Australian dollar and short-dated government bond yields.
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Apart from the Australian PMIs it's a bare data agenda.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.
Source: Investing Live - News
