By Bloomberg News - Jun 30, 2011
A Chinese manufacturing index fell to the lowest level since February 2009, signaling that the world’s second-biggest economy is cooling as export demand weakens and the government reins in credit to control inflation.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 50.9 in June compared with 52 in May, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in an e-mailed statement today. A separate survey showed manufacturing output declined for the first time since July 2010, HSBC Holdings Plc said today.
Pressure for additional monetary tightening may be easing after manufacturers’ input prices rose at the slowest pace since July 2010 in the logistics federation study. The People’s Bank of China has paused for 12 weeks in raising benchmark interest rates, the longest gap since increases began in October.
Today’s data “will further depress markets which have been increasingly worried about a hard-landing in China,” said Lu Ting, a Hong Kong-based economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “The good news is the weaker momentum of inflation.”
The level of the PMI compiled by the logistics federation and the statistics bureau compared with the median forecast of 51.5 in a Bloomberg News survey of 13 economists. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. HSBC’s index, released with Markit Economics, fell to an 11-month low of 50.1 in June.
Stocks Fall
The Shanghai Composite Index swung between gains and losses, falling 0.1 percent as of 10:39 a.m. local time after declining 5.7 percent in the second quarter on concern that monetary tightening will threaten growth and profits.
The government-backed manufacturing index is based on a survey of purchasing managers in more than 820 companies in 20 industries. The report indicated that companies cut stocks of raw materials as domestic and overseas orders grew at a slower pace and output growth cooled.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said that while the index may have been pulled down by a seasonal pattern of declines, it “suggests growth remained weak in June.” |
发表于 2011-6-30 23:55
|