China manufacturing at 12-month low

BEIJING: An index of China´s manufacturing activity fell to a 12-month low in April, HSBC said Thursday, indicating further weakness as growth sputters in the world´s second-largest economy.
The British bank´s preliminary purchasing managers´ index (PMI) came in at 49.2, it said in a statement, below the 49.6 final reading in March.
The index reached 50.7 in February but has now contracted in four of the past five months. The reading was also below the median estimate of 49.6 in a Bloomberg News survey.
The index, compiled by information services provider Markit, tracks activity in China´s factories and workshops and is regarded as a barometer of the health of the global economic giant.
A figure above 50 points to growth, but anything below indicates contraction. China´s gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 7.0 percent in the first quarter from 7.3 percent in the final three months of last year, the worst result in six years.