Investing.com – China’s September official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and the Caixin Manufacturing PMI were both higher than expected, data showed on Monday.
The country’s official manufacturing PMI came in at 49.8 in September, slightly higher than the 49.5 expected by analysts but was the fifth month it’s been below the 50 level which divides expansion from contraction.
Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing PMI was at 53.7, compared with the expected 54.2.
A Separate Caixin Manufacturing PMI, which focuses more on smaller, export-orientated firms, came in at 51.4, higher than the expected 50.2 and August’s 50.4.
“It is a bit better than expected, maybe due to the end-of-quarter factor, but the market won’t take it as a signal of a turning point,” said Zhou Hao, a senior emerging markets economist at Commerzbank AG, in a Bloomberg report.
“It is a small, unexpected rebound in the downward cycle, and the overall outlook is still grim.”