China Matters
The preliminary HSBC China manufacturing purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.6 in May compared with a final reading of 50.4 in April. The better than expected US new home sales data that stood at second highest level since the recession and the jobless claims data, were mainly offset by the Chinese data.

Shanghai, China: A woman sells umbrellas on a rainy day. Manufacturing activity in China contracted in May for the first time in seven months, in another sign of the weakness of recovery in the world's second-largest economy. Pic/AFP