China official manufacturing PMI at 50.2 (vs. 50.0 expected)
- 50.0 expected (Bloomberg survey) or 50.1 (Reuters survey)
- prior was 50.5
- An eight-month low
- China’s economic data can be mixed in the first few weeks of the year due to the Lunar New Year holiday
Shuang Ding, an economist at Citigroup:
- “This shows a further slowdown in the economy, but it’s a modest slowdown. It hasn’t reached the point where it would trigger a policy response from the government.”
A statement from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (compilers of the survey, along with China’s official statistical bureau):
- “The effects of the holiday can’t be excluded,” when interpreting the PMI … “Based on market demand and the production situation in some sectors, we expect that future economic growth will remain generally stable.”
The HSBC/Markit PMI follows on Monday (March 3) at 0145 GMT.
The “Flash” reading for HSBC manufacturing PMI for February came in at a lower than expected 48.3 back on the 20th.
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More at: China PMI Falls to 50.2 in Latest Sign of Slowdown (The Wall Street Journal is often gated, so if you’re unable to access the article try a search of Google news using the headline)
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Table via Reuters:
