Australia Flash Composite PMI Slows to 52.5 From 53.2

S&P Global printed Australia’s August flash PMI at 0900 AEST on Friday, 21 August (2300 UTC on 20 August). The official release puts the Composite Output Index at 52.5, down from 53.2 in July. Services business activity is 52.9, down from 53.6. The Manufacturing PMI is unchanged at 52.0. Manufacturing output is 49.7, down from 50.3. A forecast is not on the official page.

FXStreet’s recap prints the same actuals. It is not averaged with anything else.

AUD/USD color is now 0.7135, not 0.7115

That recap had AUD/USD near 0.7115 with little to no impact. That pair stamp does not hold. The later FXStreet 02:45 UTC page, dateModified 21 August 02:45:21 UTC, has the pair near 0.7135 in Friday’s Asian session. That is the color on this print. It is not a second AUD note.

The same later page says the Australian dollar is gaining as the dollar weakens on US debt concerns after the Treasury long-end buyback. July jobs, already filed, stay color: employment fell 15,800 and unemployment rose to 4.5%.

NZD/USD is the other live Oceania tape.

Official: growth cooled as manufacturing output tipped into contraction

The official page says private-sector activity rose for the fourth time in five months and that the expansion was concentrated in services. Manufacturing output just tipping into contraction. New orders rose for a second month. Input-cost inflation picked up in August after three slower months. Charge inflation retreated to its least marked since the start of 2026.

Eleanor Dennison, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the private sector “continued to signal an expansion in August, supported by another improvement in order books,” and that “the cost environment became less favourable.”

Data were collected 12–19 August. Final August figures are due 1 September for manufacturing and 3 September for services and the composite. Live Aussie is on prices. The next stamps sit on the economic calendar.

Informational only. Not trading advice, signals, or a guarantee of any market outcome.