China: PMI’s point towards economic slowdown – Danske Bank

Chinese official PMI manufacturing for February fell more strongly than expected, pointing to a slowdown in the Chinese economy, according to analysts at Danske Bank.

Key Quotes

“The index fell to 50.3 (consensus 51.1) from 51.3. It isthe lowest level since July 2016. While the drop is bigger than expected it is broadly in line with our outlook for a slowdown in the Chinese economy this year, which is engineered by financial tightening to reduce leverage and cool the housing market. The months around the Chinese New Year always create some distortion so the weakness of the data should be taken with a grain of salt. Tomorrow, private Caixin PMI data is due out.”