MNI DATA IMPACT: China Feb PMI Falls to 50.6 amid Holidays

China's manufacturing activities as measured by Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) slowed to 50.6 in February from 51.3 in January, affected by the Chinese New Year holidays, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday. It still registered a 12th-month expansion.

MNI highlights the following key points:

• Production and new-orders indices dropped 1.6 and 0.8 percentage points to 51.9 and 51.5. Manufacturers in pharmaceutical, equipment and electrical machinery performed particularly well, with a new-orders index above 55.0, NBS said.
• New-export orders and imports were 48.8 and 49.6, 1.4 pp and 0.2 pp lower than last month, as Chinese importers reduced procurement during the holidays, the NBS said.
• The non-manufacturing gauge fell to 51.4 from 52.4. The service business activities sub-index was 50.8, down from 51.1.
• Activities index in retailing, catering and entertainment rose from the previous month and were in expansion, the bureau said without giving numbers. Activities in telecommunications and financial services were above 58.0 with rapidly growing businesses, it said.