HSBC said today its preliminary China purchasing manager’ index (PMI) rose to 49.1 from 48.3 in March, marking the sixth straight time that the reading came in below 50 – indicating a decline in factory activity.
“China’s manufacturing activity rose from the previous month but was still in contractionary territory,” said analyst at IG Markets Stan Shamu.
“The reading suggests that China’s easing measures are beginning to take effect, but further easing is required to keep the recovery on track.”
Today’s macroeconomic calendar is thin so traders will be looking to tomorrow’s new home sales data for April and the results of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, which will take place on Wednesday.
Minutes from the previous meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed that only two policymakers were in favour of implementing additional stimulus to support the ongoing recovery, while it was noted that the job market had shown improvement.
However, the Department of Labor’s non-farm payrolls report released in early April revealed that the economy created only 120,000 jobs last month. Last Thursday, it was reported that initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by only 2,000 to 386,000 in the previous week.
In Asian, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell six points (0.1 percent) to 9,555 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 3.5 points (0.15 percent) to 2,403. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 143 points (0.7 percent) to 20,867.
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