The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on Wednesday stood at 51.3 in January, dipping marginally from 51.4 in December but slightly better than economists had expected. "Today's PMI readings suggest that China's economy continued to perform well last month," Julian Evans-Pritchard, Singapore-based China economist for Capital Economics, said in a research note. A breakdown of key PMI indexes showed production and new order growth remained solid last month, though the pace of expansion eased for both from December. A separate reading on the services sector showed the pace of growth picked up in January from the previous month. Policymakers are counting on growth in services to offset the stubborn weakness in exports that is dragging on the economy.

Source: dna February 01, 2017 05:06 UTC