CHINESE MANUFACTURING HITS 18-MONTH HIGH
AP Photo/Neal Ulevich
HSBC China manufacturing PMI climbed to an 18-month high of 51.7 in July, from 50.7 in June.
This missed expectations for a rise to 52, and was lower than the flash reading of 52.
A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Many sub-indices saw downward revisions from the flash reading, which accounts for the decline in the headline number.
New export orders however climbed at the second fastest rate since November 2010.
Moreover, job shedding eased in July and the latest decline was the weakest since March.
"The economy is improving sequentially and registered across-the-board improvement compared to June,” Hongbin Qu, HSBC chief economist for China, said in a press release.
“Policy makers are continuing with targeted easing in recent weeks and we expect the cumulative impact of these measures to filter through in the next few months and help consolidate the recovery.”
Earlier we got the official PMI number which climbed to 51.7, from 51 in June and beating expectations for a rise to 51.4.
China's mini-stimulus has helped improve sentiment and Beijing again seems to have made growth a top priority.
Markit Economics/HSBC
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