Bumper November for global manufacturers

LONDON/HONG KONG: Manufacturers around the globe performed strongly in November, but concerns about the protectionist leanings of US President-elect Donald Trump and an Opec-induced oil price rally could curtail future growth.

Factories across Asia and Europe ramped up activity and data due later yesterday from the United States are expected to show manufacturers in the world’s largest economy also pushed harder on the accelerator.

But some analysts cautioned November might be as good as it gets as the effects of vast monetary stimulus from central banks wear off.

IHS Markit’s final manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for the eurozone chalked up its highest reading since January 2014 in November, registering 53.7, in line with an earlier flash estimate and ahead of October’s 53.5. Anything above 50 indicates growth.

But British manufacturing growth cooled unexpectedly as factories grappled with soaring costs caused by the slump in sterling after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

The Markit/CIPS UK PMI fell to 53.4 from 54.2, confounding expectations for a rise to 54.5 in a Reuters poll of economists.

In Asia, there were stronger PMIs in China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and while activity in Japan’s factories was still growing in November, the pace was slower.

China’s official PMI rose to 51.7 in November from 51.2. The index was stronger than economists polled by Reuters had expected and matched a level last seen in July 2014.

Elsewhere in Asia, the pace of growth in India’s factory activity slowed, resulting in the biggest month-on-month decline in its PMI since March 2013.

South Korean factories showed a fourth consecutive month of slowdown underlying a fragile recovery for Asia’s fourth-biggest economy. – Reuters