Nikkei to sponsor Asian PMIs

Japan's Nikkei business daily is to sponsor the closely watched Asia purchasing managers' indices (PMI), financial research group Markit -- which compiles the data -- said Monday. The sponsorship with Nikkei branding includes ten PMI surveys in the Asia-Pacific such as Hong Kong Whole Economy PMI, India Manufacturing PMI and Japan Manufacturing PMI as well as two new PMI surveys for Malaysia Manufacturing and Singapore Whole Economy, Markit said. "The two companies also plan to collaborate on other index initiatives as well as digital content," the British research group said in a statement. Compiled by Markit, the Asia PMI series are based on data collected monthly from 5,000 purchasing or other senior managers in the region. The PMI surveys provide advance indications of economic developments by tracking variables such as new orders, employment and prices based on first-hand interviews with panels of companies that closely represent economic sectors. Last week Markit said banking giant HSBC had ended its five-year sponsorship of a closely watched series of business activity surveys in China and other developing countries, whose results frequently shook world stock markets. The companies' China PMI in particular has been scrutinised for clues to the health of the world's second biggest economy, even though -- or maybe because -- it often contradicts the official gauge released by Beijing.