China’s manufacturing contracted for a fourth month in April, according to a private survey that missed estimates and sent stocks in the region lower on concern the economy’s slowdown is deepening.
A purchasing managers’ index was at 48.1, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said in a statement today. That compared with a 48.4 median estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, a preliminary reading of 48.3 and March’s 48. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction.
Hong Kong stocks extended declines on the report, which suggests Communist Party leaders have to do more to set a floor under economic growth after property construction plunged last quarter and expansion cooled. Gross domestic product is projected to increase 7.3 percent this year as the government reins in credit, according to a Bloomberg survey, compared with an official target of about 7.5 percent.
“There is no substantial improvement in terms of momentum,” said Ding Shuang, senior China economist at Citigroup Inc. in Hong Kong. The property-market slowdown is having “certainly some impact” on manufacturing, said Ding, who previously worked at the People’s Bank of China and International Monetary Fund.
The Hang Seng Index fell 1.3 percent at the close and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) of mainland shares, also known as the H-share index, slid 0.6 percent.
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