Indian, Chinese Manufacturing Gain as Europe Struggles: Economy

Manufacturing expanded in India and China in December, indicating Asia’s fastest-growing major economies have so far withstood the fallout from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

India’s manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in six months, stoking inflationary pressure, and a Chinese manufacturing gauge rose by more than economists expected, suggesting that a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy may be stabilizing. In the euro area, output fell for a fifth month though the rate of decline eased slightly from November.