HSBC 'Flash' China manufacturing PMI for February: 50.1
- expected 49.5
- prior was 49.7
Apologies for the delay ... I had a problem accessing to post ... seems OK now though.
I got the result out on Twitter ... now finally to the site ...
Key points ...
Flash China Manufacturing PMI at 50.1 in February (49.7 in January)
- Four-month high
Flash China Manufacturing Output Index at 50.8 in February (50.3 in January)
- Five-month high
Commenting - Hongbin Qu, Chief Economist, China & CoHead of Asian Economic Research at HSBC:
- "The HSBC China Manufacturing PMI improved slightly to 50.1 in the flash reading for February, up from 49.7 in January.
- Domestic demand firmed while new export orders contracted for the first time since April 2014. Both input and output prices remain in contraction.
- Today's data point to a marginal improvement in the Chinese manufacturing sector going into the Chinese New Year period in February.
- However, domestic economic activity is likely to remain sluggish and external demand looks uncertain.
- We believe more policy easing is still warranted at the current stage to support growth."
Note: 'New export orders' to lowest since June of 2013
- to 47.2 (from 50.2 in January)