The S&P PMIs indicate slower growth in May, with the mfg PMI dropping sharply, and today's services PMI sluggish. Both also suggest more deflation. In today's survey, input prices ticked up, but selling prices were pushed down by "greater competition for new work and promotional activities".

High-frequency data continue to point to a faster rate of deflation in China in recent weeks. One reason is lower energy prices, which should bring some economic relief to downstream firms, but building materials and steel prices are also falling. Cyclical momentum the economy remains very weak.

Rather than getting the tariff-reprieve boost seen in the official PMI, and other PMIs across the region, the S&P PMI fell to 48.3 in May, the lowest since September 2022. Export orders dropped to the lowest since July 2023. That fed into weaker staffing and continued falls in prices.

The Liberation Day tariffs caused the PMIs to fall sharply in April. Postponement of the tariffs triggered a recovery in May. But the bounce in the headlines was mild, and Korea, where according to S&P "new orders fell at the...strongest rate in almost a decade", continues to lag.

Even with a rebound in semi exports, overall Korean exports continue to go sideways. As a result, the underperformance relative to the rest of the region of the last 6M continues. This presidential election won't affect that, though it should bring stronger fiscal policy, boosting domestic demand.

We don't get many expenditure inputs to estimate components of GDP each quarter. One of the few that is available is net exports, which can be proxied by the change in the monthly balance in goods and services trade. Data today show that remains high, but is now falling YoY, and will dampen Q2 GDP.

After falling sharply in recent months, there was a modest bounce in consumer confidence in May. The consumer mood may have been given a boost by politicians focusing more on the cost of living crisis. But that crisis remained clear in today's survey, with inflation expectations remaining elevated.

The recent renewed decline in upstream prices is partly about energy, and so will provide some help to manufacturers. However, in a sign of the continued weakness of construction, building material prices have also dropped, and the acceleration in PPI deflation is rarely a good sign for the cycle.

Today's data show that, unlike Japan, Korean PPI is following import prices lower. Unsurprisingly, the big moves in the PPI April report were in energy prices, which fell 7.9% YoY. With the KRW also strengthening, the BOK from here should be able to focus even more on the weakness in growth.