Korea – August a bit weaker

Softer output and capex in August is most likely noise, reflecting temporary issues in auto production, and lumpiness in investment spending on transport equipment. Even with that, Q3 GDP growth is tracking around 1% QoQ.

Paul Cavey

Sep 30, 2026 • 2 min read

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China – mixed PMIs, incremental policy

The manufacturing PMIs remain mixed. The S&P version is much stronger. And while weak in level terms, prices in the official versions are strong. This is the context for the latest, incremental, policy measures: from Beijing's perspective, conditions just aren't bad enough to warrant a new approach.

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East Asia Today

Lots of data updates today: August services trade and Q2 current account in China; export and labour market updates in Japan; for Korea, the September business confidence survey from the BOK; and finally in Taiwan, leading indicators for August and consumer confidence for September.

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East Asia Today

Despite a real surge in profits in tech hardware, overall industrial earnings in China continue to go sideways. Services PPI inflation in Japan points to real upside pressure for headline CPI in Japan in the next 6M. In CPB data, the recent strength in global trade volumes held up in July.