Hong Kong's PMI fell to 49.2 in September and employment contracted at its fastest pace since April 2020, even as the mainland's own survey jumped to 50.7 and the PBOC cut a targeted lending rate to support growth.
Record rail crowds on Oct. 1 underscored that Chinese households still travel in force, even as markets wait to see whether spending per trip holds up when onshore markets reopen. Source
Mainland China's markets have been closed all week for Golden Week, so the PMI beat that landed just before the holiday has had the narrative entirely to itself. Manufacturing cleared 50. Non-manufacturing jumped. The PBOC cut a rate and rolled out a fresh mortgage subsidy. Put together, it reads like the stimulus story investors have been waiting two years for.
