STOCKS | Capital Economics Says Japan July PMI Shows Economy Unaffected by Oil Shock

According to Jin10, Capital Economics Asia Chief Economist Marcel Thieliant said Japan's preliminary purchasing managers' index data showed the economy continued to shake off the impact of the energy cost shock. Japan's economy remained resilient and still pointed to a sharp acceleration in inflation. The composite PMI rose slightly from 52.8 to 53.1 in July, a four-month high, which was consistent with GDP growth of about 1.5% above trend. Thieliant added that the improvement was hard to explain because both services and manufacturing PMIs weakened. He said this may be because Japan was finally starting to benefit from stronger demand for AI-related products.