Pursuits
China Factory Gauge Matches Post-2012 High as Large Firms Lead
- Manufacturing PMI rises to 51.7, services advance to 54.7
- Economist: ‘Big companies are seeing strong momentum’
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China’s official factory gauge matched a post-2012 high as a credit-fueled recovery of smokestack industries gained momentum and signaled a pickup in inflation expectations.
The report added to evidence that the old growth drivers are picking up, fueled by inexpensive credit, and showed that large companies, which tend to be state owned, are faring better than smaller enterprises. Input prices jumped to the strongest reading since March 2011, signaling that inflationary pressures may be building after China recently snapped four years of factory gate deflation.