Thursday, September 20, 2012

Chinese Factory Output Falls To Its Lowest Level In 10 Months

Chinese Flash PMI climbed to 47.8 in September, and August's reading was revised down to 47.6.
Markets immediately sold off on the news.
Although manufacturing was at a two-month high, the survey barely showed improvement in the headline number. And manufacturing stayed below the contractionary reading of 50.
The details of the report were ugly as well. Most indices contracted some at a faster pace than others.
Output plunged to 47, the lowest level in 10-months, and down from 48.2 in August. New export orders also declined, showing weak external demand, but they contracted at a slower rate than the previous month.
In a press release, HSBC's chief economist Hongbin Qu wrote that the slowdown in manufacturing was stabilising.
"China’s manufacturing growth is still slowing, but the pace of slowdown is stabilising. Manufacturing activities remain lacklustre, thanks to weak new business flows and a longer than expected destocking process. And this is adding more pressures to the labour market and has prompted Beijing to step up easing over the past weeks. The recent easing measures should be working to lead to a modest improvement from 4Q onwards."

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