2013 Was Not A Good Year For The BRICs
The chart at right, courtesy of Alan Ruskin, global head of G10 FX strategy at Deutsche Bank, shows cumulative increases in country-specific manufacturing purchasing manager indices (PMIs) published by Markit over the course of 2013, updated with today's release of the December data.
What is notable is that nearly across the board, these PMIs rose last year, suggesting improving business conditions for manufacturers around the world, save for in Denmark and the BRICs.
Even non-BRIC emerging markets - like Turkey, South Korea, Hungary, and Indonesia - managed to eke out gains in their respective PMIs, while other EMs (Taiwan, Poland, Greece, and the Czech Republic) registered strong increases.
Meanwhile, manufacturing in developed markets, like Japan, the U.S., and the eurozone, roared to life, as the chart illustrates.