China, India Report Manufacturing Growth

Manufacturing output jumped in China and India in October, breaking with the rest of Asia.

China's official Purchasing Managers Index gained to 54.7 in October, from 53.8 a month earlier, The Wall Street Journal said. A reading above 50 signals expansion and a reading under 50 means output contracted.

A Chinese PMI produced by HSBC (HBC) was 54.8, up from 52.9 a month earlier.

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"If anything, the engine of growth is speeding up and running faster than people were expecting," said Glenn Maguire, Société Générale's chief economist for Asia- Pacific "It's certainly not stalling."

In India, the HSBC PMI rose to 57.2 from 55.1, driven by new orders and export demand. Still, the pace of expansion has dropped from earlier this year.

In the rest of Asia, strong currencies and worries about the strength of the global economy are weakening business confidence. HSBC's PMI reading fell in both Taiwan and South Korea.