China output gauge adds to concerns

A Chinese manufacturing gauge slipped to the lowest level in 18 months, adding pressure on policy makers to do more to support growth.

The government’s Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 50.1 in December from 50.3 in November, according to data released by the statistics bureau and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing in Beijing. That compared with a median estimate of 50 in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

Investors’ expectations for more monetary easing have sent stocks soaring, with the Shanghai Composite Index registering its biggest annual gain since 2009. Weakness in the housing market is weighing on an economy that probably expanded last year at the slowest pace since 1990, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.