China HSBC PMI shows more contraction in January

HONG KONG (MarketWatch)
Chinese manufacturing activity remained stuck in contraction in January, according to HSBC's Purchasing Managers' Index released Wednesday, putting the survey results at odds with an official Chinese gauge released earlier in the day
The HSBC survey's final print on China's PMI came in at 48.8, unchanged from a preliminary reading released last month and a little ahead of HSBC's December measure at 48.7
But the PMI reading was still below the threshold of 50, which separates expansion and contraction
The data also differed from a China Federation of Logistics &Purchasing survey, which earlier Wednesday put the country's PMI reading for January at 50.5, rising from December's 50.3 and surprising analysts who had estimated the official gauge to drop to 49.5.