China's Sept flash factory PMI casts pall over global markets

Beijing

FLAGGING demand dragged China's giant factory sector into its sharpest contraction in 61/2 years in September, a private survey showed on Wednesday, triggering a flight to safety in Asian markets that analysts say could extend across the globe.

The bleak data came after the US central bank refrained from lifting interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade last week, citing concerns that global problems, and China's slowing economy in particular, may hurt the US recovery.