/ 1 April 2010

SA’s PMI retreats in March

South Africa’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) retreated to a seasonally adjusted 55,6 in March after reaching a near-three-year high of 60,4 the previous month, a survey showed on Thursday.

But sponsor Kagiso Securities said despite the decline, the PMI averaged 56,5 during the first quarter of 2010, the best reading since the second quarter of 2007 and up strongly from 50,1 in quarter four 2009.

“At this stage, we interpret the sharp fall [in March] as a normalisation to a more sustainable level for the index rather than indicating the possible start of a more worrisome trend,” said Andre Coetzee, head of fixed income at Kagiso Securities. — Reuters