China’s June factory activity contracts for second month

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s manufacturing activity contracted for a second month in June, an official factory survey showed on Sunday, keeping alive calls for further stimulus after a string of recent indicators showed the economy struggling to get back on its feet.

The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) stayed at 49.5 in June compared with 49.5 in May, below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction and in line with a median forecast of 49.5 in a Reuters poll.

(Reporting by Joe Cash and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Sam Holmes and William Mallard)