A few days after the Chinese government said that growth would not fall below 7.0%, the Chinese flash PMI fell for the third month in a row to 47.7. China has been very proactive in trying to stop a bubble from occurring, and they still have plenty of room for policy adjustments to address slowing growth.
Europe’s PMI surprised on the upside with a reading of 50.1 versus last month’s reading of 48.8. Any number above 50 shows expansion. This is good news for Europe.