MNI BRIEF:China Jul Manufacturing PMI Falls Within Contraction

China's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell by 0.4 points to 49.3 in July, staying below the breakeven 50 mark for the fourth month, affected by traditional off-season, high temperatures, heavy rains and floods in some areas, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

The production and new order sub-indices were 50.5 and 49.4 respectively, down 0.5 and 0.8 points from the previous month, as market demand slowed down. 

The non-manufacturing PMI registered 50.1, down 0.4 points from the previous month. The business activity sub-index for the service sector edged down by 0.1 points to 50.0, while that of the construction sector declined 2.2 points to 50.6 amid extreme weather. The expectation sub-index dropped 2.3 points to 51.6.