China Factory Activity Slows in October

An official gauge of China's factory activity edged down in October, indicating softening business activity after hitting a more-than-five-year high in September.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 51.6 in October from 52.4 in September, government data showed Tuesday.

Despite the decline, the index has remained above the 50 mark that separates an expansion in activity from a contraction for 15 months.

A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in manufacturing activity, while a reading below 50 shows a contraction.

The October reading was a tad below the median forecast of 51.8 by economists polled earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

The subindex measuring new orders declined to 52.9 from 54.8 in September, while the production subindex fell to 53.4 from 54.7, the statistics bureau said.

China's official nonmanufacturing PMI, also released Tuesday, dropped to 54.3 in October from 55.4 in September.

Write to Liyan Qi at liyan.qi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 30, 2017 21:27 ET (01:27 GMT)