China's Caixin Manufacturing PMI unexpectedly returns to expansion, with 50.7 in November

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

China's Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) unexpectedly expanded to 50.7 in November when compared to October’s contraction of 49.5, the latest data published on Friday.

The market consensus was for a 49.8 readout.

Key highlights (via Caixin)

Production returns to growth amid sustained rise in total new work.

Softer reduction in employment.

Business confidence ticks up to four-month high.

"Demand continued to grow, as the gauge for new orders remained in expansionary territory for the fourth consecutive month, hitting the highest since June. Compared with consumer goods and intermediate goods, the supply and demand of investment goods were weaker,” said Wang Zhe, an economist at Caixin Insight Group.

"Overseas demand remained sluggish, with the measure for new export orders staying in contraction for the fifth straight month," Wang added.

On Thursday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the country’s official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which declined to 49.4 as against the 49.5 contraction registered in October. Markets expected a 49.7 readout in the reported month.

AUD/USD reaction to China’s PMI data

The upside surprise in the Chinese Manufacturing PMI fuelled a fresh bid under the Aussie Dollar, with AUD/USD flirting with an intraday high near 0.6630, up 0.32% on the day.

Australian Dollar price today

The table below shows the percentage change of Australian Dollar (AUD) against listed major currencies today. Australian Dollar was the strongest against the .

	USD	EUR	GBP	CAD	AUD	JPY	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.16%	-0.19%	-0.14%	-0.32%	-0.21%	-0.53%	-0.09%
EUR	0.16%		-0.06%	0.00%	-0.15%	-0.06%	-0.37%	0.10%
GBP	0.20%	0.04%		0.06%	-0.12%	-0.02%	-0.34%	0.14%
CAD	0.12%	-0.03%	-0.07%		-0.20%	-0.10%	-0.41%	0.07%
AUD	0.31%	0.16%	0.12%	0.19%		0.09%	-0.22%	0.26%
JPY	0.21%	0.08%	0.01%	0.07%	-0.06%		-0.27%	0.12%
NZD	0.53%	0.38%	0.34%	0.39%	0.22%	0.32%		0.43%
CHF	0.07%	-0.09%	-0.14%	-0.08%	-0.24%	-0.14%	-0.46%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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