Global Manufacturing Growth Accelerates In July

Thousands of companies around the world are surveyed for these monthly Purchasing Manager Index releases, so this is essentially the first look at the complete global manufacturing picture for the second half of 2013.

JPMorgan's global composite manufacturing PMI was just released, and the headline index advanced to 50.8 from 50.6 in June.

Any PMI index reading above 50 indicates expansion, whereas any reading below 50 indicates contraction. Thus, the advance in the global composite PMI in July suggests that the pace of expansion in global manufacturing picked up last month, but expansion remains somewhat subdued.

The U.S. PMI showed a robust advance to 53.7, up from 51.9 in July.

In Europe, Spain was the only company to see a drop in manufacturing PMI – to 48.8 from June's 50.0 reading, dipping back into contraction.

The eurozone composite manufacturing PMI, however, advanced to 50.3 from 48.8, reflecting broad-based gains in national indices across the currency area and suggesting a transition from a contraction in June to expansion in July.

In China, the data were mixed. The official PMI released by the Chinese government showed an increase to 50.3 from 50.1, but the China PMI compiled by HSBC fell to 47.7 from 48.2.

And in Japan, PMI fell to 50.7 from 52.3, indicating continued but slowing expansion.