Key points:

Asia Sector PMI™ data from Markit showed that business activity was largely driven by service sector companies in September. Software & services, which saw a larger month-on-month change in business activity index than any other sector, topped the overall growth rankings, closely followed by banks and insurance. Furthermore, it was the strongest expansion of business activity at software & services firms since October 2010. 

 

Overall, 14 of the 19 detailed Asia sectors monitored saw increased business activity in September, up from 12 in August. The top five growth rankings were occupied by service-related sectors, with commercial & professional and healthcare services also seeing solid growth over the month. Meanwhile, the best-performing manufacturing sectors, automobiles & auto parts and chemicals, ranked at sixth and seventh place respectively.

 

At the bottom end of the table, manufacturing-based sectors recorded the weakest performances in September. Construction materials saw the most marked reduction in output, followed by metals & mining and forestry & paper products.