Asian Factories Still Under Pressure on Mixed Demand Rebound
- South Korea ended 16-month slump, Taiwan showed improvement
- Vietnam went deeper into contraction, hitting 5-month low
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Key gauges of activity at Asia’s factories failed to turn around the bearish sentiment in November, as global demand for goods remained soft and China’s faltering economic recovery tempered any optimism.
While manufacturing purchasing managers’ indexes for South Korea and Taiwan showed signs of stabilization in activity, the mood in Japan was downbeat, according to surveys published Friday by S&P Global and au Jibun Bank. A private gauge of factory activity in China unexpectedly returned to expansion.