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Australia Services Activity Expands to Six-Month High in July, Buoyed by Increasing New Orders

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Australia's seasonally adjusted S&P Global Services purchasing managers' index (PMI) business activity index reached a six-month high of 53.6 in July, rising from 50.5 in the previous month, boosted by a rise in new orders, the first time in five months, signs of improving market confidence and expanded capacity, according to a Wednesday report by S&P Global.

This was the second consecutive monthly rise in output in the Australian services sector, S&P said, adding that the overall expansion in business activity was centered on the real estate, business services, information and communication categories.

Transport and storage remained under pressure at the start of the second half. New business from abroad continued to fall, though at a lesser pace.

Higher costs for fuel and staff resulted in input prices rising sharply again, per the report. The rate of output price inflation reaccelerated. Finance and insurance was the only sector to post a reduction in selling prices during the month.

The 12-month sentiment in July recovered from June's 31-month low to the highest since just before the start of the Middle East conflict in February.

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