China's factory activity contracting: HSBC data

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch)
China's manufacturing activity was contracting in May, according to preliminary data, as HSBC's "flash" Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a seven-month low of 49.6 from April's final reading of 50.4
A result below 50 signals contraction
Both the new orders and new export orders sub-indexes registered decreases in the preliminary survey, which generally includes 85%-90% of the total survey responses used for the final reading