Happy Rooster:What the latest PMIs mean for Asia

Well, cock-a-doodle-doo. The year of the rooster is starting with a nice crow. Sure,Caixin’s China PMI dipped, but new export orders were at a 28-months high. Thatmirrors better data elsewhere in the region, including from Japan and Korea(where shipments were up 11.2% y-o-y last month). Even ASEAN is looking a littlebetter, with the regional PMI breaking even last month. Look closely, however, andit seems that emerging Asia is not fully benefitting from stronger activity inadvanced economies. Part of the reason might be that tighter financial conditionslocally are offsetting a better external environment. Oh, and take all these numberswith a pinch of salt. The Lunar New Year always throws things off and rush orderslift activity in the prior month. Still, we’re not convinced the rooster will be crowingquite so triumphantly for the rest of the year.

    Quick look at our first heatmap. It’s all deep-red (that’s a good thing!) in advanced economies