Official Chinese PMI survey data show moderate growth in China's aggregate economy in October. The headline index for the CFLP manufacturing PMI rose from 49.8 to 50.1, just above the consensus forecast of 50.0 and indicating expansion in the sector for the first time in six months, albeit barely. The CFLP non-manufacturing PMI rose from 50.0 to 50.2, below the consensus forecast of 50.4 and also indicating close to zero growth in the sector. The composite index covering the entire economy rose from 50.4 in September to 50.8 in October.

Today's data were close to consensus forecasts, with the China RPI and RPI-P both increasing from plus 7 to plus 36, indicating that data are coming in above market expectations.

Forecasters look for modest improvement with the manufacturing PMI expected to sneak up to neutral at 50.0 and services slightly better at 50.4.

China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) is the monthly survey of about 800 purchasing managers that is conducted jointly by CFLP and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The questions focus on the health of the manufacturing sector. The numeric result is a diffusion index. A reading above 50 indicates that manufacturing is growing. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Investors need to keep their fingers on the pulse of the economy because it dictates how various types of investments will perform. By tracking economic data such as the purchasing managers' manufacturing indexes, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for the various markets. The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers less rapid growth and is extremely sensitive to whether the economy is growing too quickly and causing potential inflationary pressures. The CLFP manufacturing data give a detailed look at the manufacturing sector, how busy it is and where things are headed. Since the manufacturing sector is a major source of cyclical variability in the economy, this report has a big influence on the markets. And its sub-indexes provide a picture of orders, output, employment and prices. The survey tends to have a greater impact when it is released prior to the HSBC/Markit manufacturing PMI because the two reports are correlated.