China's services accelerates but manufacturing shows signs of shrinking

Recent economic data from China have been mixed.

Over the weekend, the non-manufacturing PMI compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics and the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing was reported to have risen to 54.8 in April from 54.5 in March.

This followed a report earlier last week showing that the official manufacturing PMI had risen to 50.4 in April from 50.3 in March.

However, a report on Monday showed that the manufacturing PMI compiled by HSBC and Markit Economics rose to 48.1 in April from 48.0 in March.

While an improvement over the previous month, this report suggests that China's manufacturing sector may in fact be shrinking.