China's Caixin Manufacturing PMI improves to 51.4 in April vs. 51.0 expected

China's Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 51.4 in April, compared to the expansion of 51.1 seen in March, according to the latest data released on Tuesday.

The reading beat the market forecast of 51.0 in the reported month.

Key highlights (via Caixin)

Production expands at most pronounced pace since May 2023.

New export orders rise at the quickest pace in nearly three-and-ahalf years.

Selling prices fell again despite highest cost inflation in six months.

"Both supply and demand expanded at a faster pace amid the market upturn. In April, manufacturers’ output and total new orders continued to grow, with the corresponding subindexes reaching new highs since May 2023 and February 2023, respectively,” said Wang Zhe, an economist at Caixin Insight Group.

Wang added, “The increase in external demand was even more notable, with the gauge for new export orders hitting a high not seen since November 2020. Investment goods outperformed both consumer and intermediate goods in terms of supply as well as demand at home and abroad.”

In the last hour, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the country’s official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which fell to 50.4 in April, compared with the 50.8 growth reported in March while beating the estimates of a 50.3 figure. The Non-Manufacturing PMI dipped to 51.2 in the same period vs. March’s 53.0.

AUD/USD reaction to China’s PMI data

The encouraging Chinese Manufacturing PMI fails to inspire the Aussie Dollar, as AUD/USD  flirts with intraday lows near 0.6550, at the time of writing, down 0.20% on the day.