Weak demand hits factory activity across Asia, Europe

BANGALORE/LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dwindling demand hurt factory activity across much of Asia and Europe in September, and mixed manufacturing indicators in the Americas on Wednesday raised the chances of slower global economic growth in the months ahead. China's manufacturing sector barely expanded, while Britain's slumped, and the drop in new orders did not even spare Germany, the strongest member of the euro zone currency bloc, or France, its No. 2 economy. Euro zone factories' final September purchasing managers' index from private data vendor Markit was 50.3, down from 50.7 in August, and its lowest reading since July last year, as new orders contracted for the first time in more than a year. While the European Central Bank (ECB) is unlikely to move interest rates at its meeting Thursday in the wake of slow eurozone economic growth, President Mario Draghi is expected to announce details of the ECB's asset-backed securities purchase programme.

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