China's official PMI shows small rise in March

CHINA'S manufacturing activity improved slightly in March from the month before, Beijing said yesterday, even as the HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to an eight- month low.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), released by the National Bureau of Statistics, came in at 50.3, a touch higher than the 50.2 reading in February.

But the final HSBC PMI reading for March - which tracks manufacturing activity in China's factories and workshops and is a closely watched indicator of the health of the economy - was only at 48, lower than the flash estimate of 48.1 released last week, fanning speculation that a fresh round of fine-tuning macro economic moves will soon be launched.