Flash PMI 09:45 ET: composite 53.6 / mfg 52.0 / svc 53.9 — cools after last week’s hike

[LondonNewsTrader]

S&P Global US flash PMI (09:45 ET Wed): Composite Output 53.6 (Aug 54.6) — 3-month low; Manufacturing PMI 52.0 (Aug 53.0) — 2-month low; Services Business Activity 53.9 (Aug 54.5) — 3-month low. Still expansion (>50) but second straight month of slower growth; hiring cooled in both sectors. Tariffs again cited for elevated input costs; selling-price inflation slowed to the weakest since April as demand/competition limited pass-through. Factories reported the largest unfinished-goods inventory build in the survey’s history on soft sales vs production. Williamson: data still consistent with ~2.2% annualized Q3 growth, but monthly profile has slowed from the July peak.

Scalper read: first soft survey read after last week’s 25 bp hike into 3.75–4.00%. Not a collapse print — still >50 — so treat as a rates/odds nudge rather than a risk-off wrecking ball. Watch ES/NQ vs 10y reaction into the US afternoon; don’t invent a “recession PMI” that isn’t in the numbers.

Sources (paraphrase): S&P Global flash US PMI release 23 Sep; CME Econoday / desk wraps.
Trading this as a soft-landing confirmation (still expanding) or as the first post-hike demand wobble that needs another print to confirm?