Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the March PMI to come in at 45.0. China's yuan, however, didn't budge, reflecting analysts' broad views that a sustainable bounce in manufacturing activity looked some way off despite a slowdown in China's coronavirus infections from its peak in February. China's service sector activity also expanded, with official non-manufacturing PMI coming in at 52.3, from 29.6 in February, a separate NBS survey showed. The service sector now makes up a larger share of China's economy than at the time of the 2002/03 SARS coronavirus epidemic, accounting for about 60pc of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). "The situation remains volatile as the trajectory of the COVID-19 virus outbreak in several key economies is still unpredictable," ANZ analysts said in a note.

Source: Irish Independent March 31, 2020 06:33 UTC