Following South Korea's dip back into contractionary mode (PMI sub-50 for first time in six months - prompting JPY strength and NKY weakness, on implicit KRW weakness retaliation), it appears China's government-sanctioned PMI (printed at 50.1 relative to 50.8 prior and 50.1 expectations) is converging down to the nation's HSBC PMI (whose Flash print was 48.3 - final due at 2145ET). This is the equal lowest print in 9 months but provides just enough cover to the current administration to maintain its tight policy stance - even if it was the biggest MoM drop in 10 months. On a side-note, all PMI sub-indices also fell MoM. The market's response is modest AUD strength and Nikkei weakness which suggests investors were hoping for a little weaker data to push China a litte closer to folding on their bubble-popping position.
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