Chart of the Day: Here's proof that tech PMI is recovering at a snail's pace

Even as index dipped to 51.2.

According to CIMB, after a surprisingly strong start to the year (+3.3 pts in Jan and +2.2 pts in Feb to 52.1), tech PMI dipped another 0.7 pt (-0.2 pt in Mar) to 51.2 last month (CIMB and consensus: 51.3). 

New orders declined 1.3 pts to 52.0 (-1.5 pts in Mar) while production dipped 0.1 pt to 51.6 (-0.7 pt in Mar).

Here's more from CIMB:

Encouragingly, new export orders rose 0.6 pt to 53.1 (-0.7 pt in Mar) and backlog orders rose 1 pt to 53.1 last month, equaling the previous highest reading in Nov 11.

Together with a firm orders-to-finished tech goods ratio of 1.07x (0.94x in 2H12), we might be seeing early signs of a modest tech recovery.