| Business sentiment in South Korea decreased in August to the lowest level in five months, while the outlook improved, the latest survey from the Bank of Korea showed on Wednesday.
The Business Survey Index on business conditions in the manufacturing sector dropped to 71 in August from 73 in July. Further, this was the lowest score since March.
The sub-index for new orders fell to 77 from 81, and that for production decreased to 84 from 85.
The survey showed that the outlook strengthened somewhat in August, with the index rising to 73 from 71.
In the non-manufacturing sector, the business morale index improved slightly to 71 from 70.0.
The Economic Sentiment Index, which combines the BSI and the Consumer Survey Index, for August was 93.7, up from 92.8 in the prior month.
Between August 6 and 13, 3,524 companies participated in the survey.
Separate official data showed that producer price inflation rose marginally to 2.6 percent in July from 2.5 percent in June.
Prices for manufactured products grew by 3.0 percent, and those for services climbed by 2.4 percent.
Monthly, producer prices moved up 0.3 percent versus a flat change in June. |