Caixin China manufacturing PMI edges down in December

The Caixin/Markit index, based on a survey of factory purchasing managers, fell to 48.2 in December from 48.6 the previous month.

Services sector expansion buoyed the overall economic activity in India during December, a key macro economic data showed on Wednesday.

Sterling also featured in a survey of companies by Lloyds Banking Group published on Monday, with many saying it’s having a negative impact on exports.

Manufacturing activity in the electronics sector also contracted in December, with the PMI coming in at 48.9, a slight dip from November’s 49.0.

“U.K. manufacturing ended 2015 on a disappointing note”, said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 represents contraction.

“The best-performing categories in December were “Other Services” and Financial Intermediation”. An official survey on Friday, which looks at larger state-owned companies, showed a fifth month of contraction though at a slightly modest pace of 49.7. After four moves, the benchmark rate now sits at 6.75 per cent. The central bank is scheduled to hold its next monetary policy review next month, although three out of four rate cuts a year ago were effected outside the planned reviews.

The December PMI was dragged down by a sharp drop in new orders amid weak demand in China, while inventories of inputs fall at their fastest rate since early 2009, Markit said.

The drag from industry comes as China makes gradual progress in its transformation to a more service-driven economy. At the composite level, staffing levels were broadly unchanged, the survey noted.

The headline figure averaged 55.4 in both third and fourth quarters, representing a weaker growth outcome in the second half of 2015.

Lee Hopley, chief economist at manufacturers’ organisation EEF, said: “December’s PMI reading points to manufacturing ending 2015 with neither a bang nor a whimper”.