An index measuring South African manufacturing sentiment rose to the highest level in almost 23 years in March though its advance may soon be halted, with survey respondents less optimistic about business conditions toward the end of the year.
Absa Group Ltd.’s purchasing managers’ index, compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research, climbed to 60, from 58.6 month earlier. That’s the highest monthly reading since record keeping began in September 1999. The median of six economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey was 58.3.
