I had the China PMI’s from the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing in Beijing here:

Manufacturing PMI for January, 49.8

Non-manufacturing PMI for January, 53.7

More detail via Bloomberg:

  • Manufacturing PMI contracted in January … first time since September 2012
  • “We expect such data will weaken further and push the government to take further easing actions,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong
  • Seasonal reasons, falling commodity prices, and weak domestic and international demand caused the decline in manufacturing PMI, Zhao Qinghe, senior statistician at NBS, said in a statement on the bureau’s website
  • Most sub-indexes fell, including new orders and new export orders
  • The sub-index of raw material purchasing prices decreased to 41.9, the lowest in at least a year, on the decline in commodity prices
  • “China’s manufacturing sector is still facing de- leveraging pressure,” said Liu Li-Gang, head of Greater China economics at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Hong Kong. “Deflation in the manufacturing sector continues and the destocking process has not yet completed.”
  • On the non-manufacturing PMI … “Taken together, the early signs for January point to a continued moderate deterioration in growth,” Bloomberg economist Tom Orlik wrote in a report today. “With the equity market rally also losing steam, that should set the scene for further easing by the central bank. We continue to expect a further rate cut in the first quarter.”

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Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen … the China HSBC Manufacturing PMI for January is coming right up, due at 0135 on February 2 (OK, maybe not coming right up … on Monday Asian time).