China Manufacturing PMI Slides Into Contraction

China's official manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 in October from 50.1 in September, the first contraction reading since July. New orders dropped to 49.4 and production slipped to 49.8, both pulling the headline index below the 50-point growth line. High-tech manufacturing bucked the trend, holding at 51.3. The split shows old-line factories cooling while the chip and equipment makers tracked by $FXI keep expanding.