Asia's manufacturing and services sectors are holding up despite the challenges posed by the drawn-out conflict in the Middle East and tightening financial conditions.

Survey data compiled by S&P Global indicate continued growth in private-sector activity in Australia, Japan and India this month, even as higher costs and supply disruptions strain businesses.

Markets look to flash purchasing managers indexes for an early glimpse into the supply and demand dynamics shaping economies.

Friday's prints continued to show pressure from the Iran crisis on company margins as energy prices remained high, but an upturn in business confidence as demand spurred more orders.

In Australia, companies turned more upbeat in their growth projections for the coming year, even as the cost environment became less favorable, the S&P survey showed.

While Australia's headline seasonally adjusted PMI composite output index cooled to 52.5 from 53.2 in July, it still marked a three-month period of uninterrupted growth.

The Australian private-sector economy continued to signal expansion, backed by another improvement in order books, said Eleanor Dennison at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Order momentum picked up in Japan, too, with firms signaling the quickest increase in output since February.

An easing of cost pressures will be welcome news for Japanese companies as well, said S&P Global Market Intelligence's Annabel Fiddes. Although input prices continued to rise sharply--often due to the impact of the Middle East war but also a weak yen--the overall rate of cost inflation touched a five-month low, she said.

Still, companies may need to see a sustained slowdown in inflation before tempering output price rises, which remained at a near-record pace, Fiddes said.

India PMI data showed a similar improvement in private-sector growth in August. Input cost pressures continued to increase, though the rise in overall costs was the tamest in seven months. A strong increase in employment reflected businesses' need to hire workers to meet rising demand.

The prints come as markets gauge whether central banks are readying more interest-rate hikes as the Mideast crisis drags on, keeping the inflationary threat intact.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has already warned that further rate increases can't be ruled out, and data showing economic strength could help build the case for more tightening.

Even with mixed messaging on the price front, the improvement in Japan's PMI strengthens the justification for the Bank of Japan to hike as soon as next month, said Capital Economics' Marcel Thieliant.

Japan's composite PMI picked up from 52.7 in July to 53.4 in August--the highest since the start of the Iran war. Earlier, official government data showed an uptick in Japan's consumer inflation last month.

For India, PMI indicators suggest that cost pressures might be feeding into prices more acutely.

"Cost pressures eased, but firms raised selling prices faster, pointing to stronger pass-through," said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC.

The Reserve Bank of India recently lowered its inflation projection for the current fiscal year but signaled that it wants to keep its monetary options open given prevailing macroeconomic uncertainties.

--Kimberley Kao contributed to this report.