The Caixin/Markit purchasing managers’ index for Chinese manufacturing ticked upward to 48.3 in October from 47.2 in September, marking the highest reading since June but remaining well below the 50-point mark that delineates contraction from expansion, Reuters reported. Suggesting some improvement in sluggish global demand, a sub-index showed new export orders expanded for the first time since June, rising to 50.7 from 44.6 in September. However, demand at home remained sluggish: The overall new orders sub-index, which covers domestic and export orders, shrank for the fourth month in a row in October–though the contraction was more modest than in September.
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