Manufacturing PMI 51.7 vs 49.5 expectedPrior 48.7That's a surprising jump but the details show that it is mostly on the back of a notable push up in new orders and output as clients look tosecure stock. Of note, HCOB points out that "growth in new work however in part reflected client stockbuilding due to the uncertainty caused by the war in theMiddle East, especially in relation to supply chains, productavailability and prices".Adding that underlying demand is still relatively fragile, as was the case with international demand, with new export orders decliningin April for an eighth successive month.Besides that, there was once again another considerable accelerations in inflation pressures. Factory gate prices rose at the steepest pace sinceNovember 2022, which led to input prices increasing to the greatest degree since June 2022 and therefore at arate amongst the greatest seen in the survey history (whichbegan in early 1998).Meanwhile, delivery delays and higher production requirements were much more evident in April. That is evidence of supply chain issues starting to become more profound with product shortages also showing up.Rounding that off is a further drop in employment conditions and also softening confidence levels. The latter continues to run below trend amid overprice trends and supply chain disruption.HCOB notes that:“Spain’s manufacturing sector recorded growth ofboth output and new orders in April, marking a positivereversal from March’s outturn. However, lift the lid onthe latest data and growth was in part supported byclient inventory building as firms raced to secure goodsgiven the product shortages and supply disruptioncaused by the war in the Middle East. Overall, sentimentremains historically low, and firms are expressingnotable uncertainty in the outlook.“Moreover, amid the energy shock and supply disruption,input prices are rising at a severe rate and to a degreenot seen since mid-2022. Crucially the level of passthrough was also significant, with selling price inflationpicking up to its fastest level in just short of threeand-a-half years. Although there remains significantuncertainty on the length and duration of the price andsupply shock, the willingness of a notable number offirms to raise their prices increases the possibility ofsecond round inflation effects already being in play.” This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.