Economics
China December Factory Gauge Falls in Sign Growth Support Needed
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A Chinese factory gauge sank to a seven-month low in December, holding near a preliminary reading and putting pressure on policy makers to provide more support for the world’s second-largest economy.
The final reading of the Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was 49.6 this month from 50 in November, compared with the Dec. 16 reading of 49.5. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction. The median estimate of eight analysts in a Bloomberg survey was for 49.5.