CHINA's Purchase Managers' Index (PMI) figures for June fell 0.4 from 51.9 the previous month, prompting fears of a slowdown in the second half, Reuters reported. The data, published by the National Bureau of Statistics, came in just shy of the 51.6 consensus given by a Reuters poll but is still well above the neutral 50 benchmark, which indicates that activity is still expanding in the sector.

The drop was broad-based, with the numbers for production, new orders, exports and imports all falling month-on-month.