China’s two main factory surveys gave opposite readings for October. The official purchasing managers’ index from the National Bureau of Statistics came in at 49.3, below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.
The private RatingDog survey, compiled by S&P Global, showed manufacturing at 52.0, down 0.1 point from September and the 11th straight month of expansion, according to City News Service.
The two surveys sample different firms. The official index focuses on state-owned and large enterprises, while RatingDog covers about 650 mainly private companies, weighted by their contribution to GDP.
RatingDog’s September reading of 52.1 was a five-month high, helped by the strongest export orders since February as some clients built safety stocks. RatingDog’s founder has warned that falling selling prices in services and rising input costs are squeezing margins.
Beijing is leaning on policy support in the meantime. The central bank injected 541 billion yuan through overnight reverse repos on Monday and cut the buyback relending rate to 1 per cent from 1.25 per cent.
Source: City News Service; investingLive (September RatingDog data); NBS.
