China factory growth lowest since 2016 on slowing domestic, external demand

The official PMI fell to 50.2 in October, the lowest since July 2016 and down from 50.8 in September

China's manufacturing sector in October expanded at its weakest pace in over two years, hurt by slowing domestic and external demand, in a sign of deepening cracks in the economy from an intensifying trade war with the United States.

Anxiety about China's cooling growth and its likely drag on the global economy have vexed financial markets recently, and Wednesday's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) indicates more stress for investors through coming months.

The official PMI - which gives global investors their first look at business conditions in China at the start of the last quarter of the year - fell