China's factory surveys cleared 50 in September, but the real story is Beijing's first-ever nationwide mortgage subsidy, launched alongside a cut to a policy-bank lending rate. Factory employment is still stuck below 50.
East Asia Econ notes the official PMI is still barely expansionary while the S&P/RatingDog gauge implies firmer cycle momentum from overseas new orders. Source
China's factory and services surveys both broke a two-month losing streak in September. The official National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) manufacturing gauge rose to 50.1 from 49.8, the composite climbed to 50.7 from 49.5, and the private RatingDog/S&P Global manufacturing PMI, the successor to the old Caixin survey and weighted toward smaller exporters, hit a five-month high of 52.1, its tenth straight month above the 50 expansion line.
