Caixin China factory PMI exceeds forecasts in June

Activity in China's factory sector strengthened in June, according to the results of perhaps the most widely-followed survey tracking it, but some economists continued to sound a skeptical note regarding the outlook.

Caixin's manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index improved from a reading of 49.6 to 50.4 after having declined for three months in a row, exceeding forecasts for an improvement to 49.8.

Both total and export orders improved, as did the price components, both of which rose - for the first time since November - Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics said.

Nevertheless, the Caixin survey was still pointing to a more subdued month-on-month rate of growth in the research house's China Activity Proxy than over much of the past few quarters, he said.

In any case, the economist's view on the outlook was unchanged on account of Monday's PMI reading.

The impact of tighter policy and slower credit expansion could take time to fully feed through in the form of weaker economic data, but past cycles suggested it eventually would.