China's purchasing managers' index (PMI), a primary gauge of manufacturing growth, declined in June to the slowest reading in four months, Bloomberg reported, citing official data released today. The PMI declined to 50.1 last month from 50.8 in May, matching consensus expectations in a Bloomberg survey of 33 analysts. A reading above 50 indicates faster manufacturing growth; a reading below 50 indicates slowing growth. The lower reading has further stoked fears that China may miss its 7.5% target for annual GDP growth with analysts predicting that headline growth will have slowed further in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year.
