NewsMV
China's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 49.8 in August, topping market estimates despite the reading marking the second consecutive month of contraction.
The print lands below 50, the threshold separating expansion from contraction, but the beat on consensus is the operative number in focus. Any PMI below 50 signals a shrinking factory sector.
China's manufacturing gauge has now held below that line for two months running. August came in at 49.8 against market estimates that were expecting something worse, which is the part of the print worth parsing.
For the metals and energy complex, China's factory activity data is a primary demand signal.
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