China's higher factory activity raises hopes of stronger growth

BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) - China continues to show signs of an economic revival as its factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in five months in May, raising some hopes across the region that Beijing's targeted measures to bolster growth are having an impact. China's official Purchasing Managers' Index, which is geared towards bigger, state-owned firms, rose to 50.8 in May, from April's 50.4, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday, beating market expectations of 50.6. "Risk appetite has risen mainly on bright economic data from China, but the direction for the month will likely depend on other economic data like U.S. jobs figures this week," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo. On China, a preliminary HSBC/Markit PMI issued late last month also showed the factory sector turning in its best performance in five months, although that reading remained below the 50-point level that suggests contraction in manufacturing activities.

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