GDP numbers can be misleading

摘要

The equities markets took a material tumble in early February 2014 - citing signs of China slowing down - with its official PMI figure down from 51.0 to 50.5 (still mirroring the earlier HSBC estimates that are 1.0 lower; 50.0 to 49.5). HSBC apparently uses a different method to determine its estimate of China's PMI (which appears to be based on the third week of a month) and just how China manages to calculate its numbers so fast anyway is anyone's guess. The PMI is apparently usually lower in January due to the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, but this was ignored, as the market expects (wants?) China to show signs of weakening.