{"id":436344,"date":"2026-08-17T06:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T23:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/nz-services-sector-holds-above-breakeven-for-second-month-as-pmi-eases-to-50-6-prior-50-9-436344\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T06:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T23:00:07","slug":"nz-services-sector-holds-above-breakeven-for-second-month-as-pmi-eases-to-50-6-prior-50-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/nz-services-sector-holds-above-breakeven-for-second-month-as-pmi-eases-to-50-6-prior-50-9-436344\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ services sector holds above breakeven for second month as PMI eases to 50.6 (prior 50.9)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">The modest cooling in New Zealand&#8217;s Performance of Services Index (this is NZ&#8217;s Services PMI) offers limited fresh signal for the RBNZ&#8217;s rate path, with the reading still consistent with tepid but positive momentum rather than a sharp turn. NZD traders are likely to look past the headline given the marginal drop from June, focusing instead on the weak employment and supplier deliveries components as evidence the recovery remains narrowly based. A soft services print, layered on already cautious consumer sentiment, keeps alive the case for further RBNZ easing later in the cycle, though a second straight month above breakeven should cap the more bearish kiwi dollar narratives for now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">\nNew Zealand&#8217;s services recovery is holding together, but with hiring still stalled it remains fragile rather than robust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">Summary:<\/p>\n<ul dir=\"ltr\" class=\"[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3 print:block print:space-y-1\">\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\">BusinessNZ&#8217;s Performance of Services Index (PSI) came in at 50.6 in July, down from 50.9 in June but up from 48.1 in May, marking a second straight month of expansion.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\">BusinessNZ CEO Katherine Rich said the sector&#8217;s improvement is encouraging but noted employment, at 48.5, remains the soft spot as firms stay cautious about new hires.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\">Respondent comments cited cost of living pressures, fuel and petrol prices, rising interest rates and election uncertainty, with 64% of comments negative, a notably softer tone than in manufacturing.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\">New Orders\/Business was the strongest sub-index at 52.6, followed by Stocks\/Inventories at 51.6 and Activity\/Sales at 50.5.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\">Employment and Supplier Deliveries were the weakest sub-indices, both at 48.5, underscoring how narrowly based the recovery remains.<\/li>\n<li class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\">BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel noted the past two months have produced the best PSI readings in roughly three years, with Activity\/Sales rising above 50 for the first time in six months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">\nNew Zealand&#8217;s services sector held onto its expansion in July, with the BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) coming in at 50.6, according to BusinessNZ. That was down slightly from June&#8217;s 50.9 reading but well above May&#8217;s 48.1, marking the second consecutive month the index has held above the 50.0 breakeven mark that separates expansion from contraction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">BusinessNZ chief executive Katherine Rich said it was encouraging to see the PSI hold above breakeven for a second month running, even as the pace of growth eased from June. She flagged employment, at 48.5, as the sector&#8217;s persistent soft spot, sitting alongside Supplier Deliveries as the weakest of the five sub-indices and a sign that firms remain reluctant to commit to new hires. Rich said the recovery is likely to stay modest until consumer confidence firms up further, rather than turning into the stronger bounce already seen in manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">Respondent commentary painted a similarly cautious picture, with cost of living pressures, fuel and petrol prices, and rising interest rates cited most often as concerns, alongside uncertainty tied to the upcoming election. Sentiment was notably weaker than in the manufacturing survey, with 64% of comments negative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">Among the five sub-indices, New Orders\/Business was the standout performer at 52.6, followed by Stocks\/Inventories at 51.6 and Activity\/Sales at 50.5. Employment and Supplier Deliveries lagged at 48.5 apiece, underlining how narrowly based the improvement remains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">BNZ senior economist Doug Steel struck a more upbeat tone, noting that the past two months have delivered the best PSI readings in roughly three years and that the Activity\/Sales sub-index climbed back above 50 for the first time in six months. Taken together, the data suggest New Zealand&#8217;s services recovery is real but fragile, with weak hiring intentions likely to keep the RBNZ&#8217;s broader growth outlook cautious heading into the back half of the year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>                            This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The modest cooling in New Zealand&#8217;s Performance of Services Index (this is NZ&#8217;s Services PMI) offers limited fresh signal for the RBNZ&#8217;s rate path, with the reading still consistent with tepid but&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-436344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}