Asian factories beat out Europe's

Manufacturing in China, India and Russia powered ahead in August while growth slowed in European factories, emphasizing a growing divide in the pace of recovery between the rich and emerging worlds.

Between the eurozone's biggest four economies, there was strong evidence of diverging fortunes, with the bloc's manufacturing sector overall expanding at its slowest pace since February, surveys showed Wednesday.

The US manufacturing sector expanded for the 13th straight month in August, beating most analysts' expectations.

The Markit Eurozone Manufacturing PMI for August dropped to 55.1 from 56.7 in July but nudged up from an earlier flash estimate of 55 and marked its 11th month above the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction.

Manufacturing growth in Germany slowed in August, although other recent data shows Europe's biggest economy is expanding fast. Business in France accelerated, but Italy and Spain saw their manufacturing indexes slip backward.

Britain, a major eurozone trading partner, saw growth in its manufacturing sector slow more than expected last month, led by the weakest expansion in new orders for more than a year.

In contrast, a pair of China's manufacturing surveys showed that activity had picked up last month, and Indian factories stayed in top gear after Asia's third-largest economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly three years in the last quarter.

HSBC's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China rose to a three-month high of 51.9 in August from 49.4 in July, while the official index also rose, from 51.2 to 51.7.

Factories in Russia - part of the BRIC quartet of new economic powers alongside China, India and Brazil - also cranked up output, expanding at their fastest rate in 28 months largely thanks to the strong domestic demand.

Fears that recovery in the United States was petering out and could stall the global upturn led by export-driven Asian economies, as well as Germany, have haunted markets, pushing the global stock index down more than 3 percent last month.


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