China Manufacturing Teeters Close to Contraction

China’s manufacturing teetered on the edge of contraction in July and South Korea’s exports and inflation declined, indicating that stimulus efforts have yet to bear fruit.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index in China unexpectedly fell to 50.1 in July, the weakest in eight months, from 50.2 in June, a government report showed today. Fifty marks the dividing line between expansion and contraction. South Korea’s exports slid by more than double the amount forecast by analysts and inflation moderated to a 12-year low.