US S&P Global Composite PMI Flash (Apr) 52.0 (Prev. 50.3, Low. 50.2, High. 51.2); "The overall inflation picture is now the most worrying for almost four years."
Importance
Level 1
- "Not surprisingly, prices are already spiking higher in this environment, and not just for energy but for a wide variety of goods and services. The overall inflation picture is now the most worrying for almost four years."
- "...broadly consistent with the economy struggling to manage annualized growth in excess of 1%, with the vast service sector acting as the principal drag."
- "Balancing the risks of inflation lifting sharply higher against the underlying weakness of economic growth presents policymakers at the Fed with a growing dilemma. However, it will likely be increasingly hard to make a case for rate cuts if inflation follows the path signalled by the PMI while the economy continues to eke out only modest growth."
- "Orders for services ranging from travel and tourism to financial products barely rose as the war caused hesitancy for spending among both household and business customers, with surging prices and the prospect of higher borrowing costs acting as a further deterrent"