China factory activity stumbles as export orders dry up

News Snapshot:

BEIJING — China’s factory activity shrank for a seventh month in October, dragged by a drop in new export orders as the boost from months of front-loading to beat United States President Donald Trump’s tariff threats finally wore off. The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.0 in October from 49.8 in September, a six-month low, the National Bureau of Statistics’ survey showed on Friday, remaining below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction and missing a forecast of 49.6 in a Reuters poll. Policymakers had banked on producers rushing goods to the US — the world’s No. 1 consumer...