China’s Nov factory activity likely contracted for second month

While the official purchasing managers' index (PMI) is expected to have improved to 49.7 in November from last month's unexpected drop to 49.5, the median forecast of 31 economists in a Reuters poll has the index staying below the 50-point level demarcating contraction from expansion. A flurry of policy support measures has had only a modest effect, raising pressure on authorities to roll out more stimulus. Profit growth at China's industrial firms shrank back to the low single digits last month, following an 11.9% increase in September and a 17.2% gain in August, which analysts attributed to volatile input costs.