08.04.202100:40:00UTC+00Hong Kong PMI Improves To 0.5 In March - Markit

The private sector in Hong Kong continued to expand marginally in March, and at a slightly faster pace, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed on Thursday with a seasonally adjusted PMI score of 50.5.

That's up from 50.2 in February and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Individually, March saw the sharpest increase in staffing levels since June 2011 as business activity stabilized.

Ongoing concerns around the impact of the pandemic led to a pessimistic outlook for the coming year, reversing the optimism seen in February. That said, sentiment was still one of the highest over the past two years.

Competitive pressures and the offering of discounts meant that output prices continued to fall. That said, the rate of decline was only slight and the weakest in 21 months amid upwards pressure on charges from input cost inflation.