To The Moon

A private gauge showed China's factory activity expanded at a faster rate in June, contrasting with the official index remaining in contractionary territory.The China Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 51.8 in June from 51.7 in May, the highest reading since June 2021, according to data released Monday by Caixin Media Co. and S&P Global.The reading stayed above the 50 mark separating activity expansion from contraction for an eighth consecutive month. That pointed in a different direction than the competing official gauge, which remained unchanged at 49.5 in June. Compared with the official index, the Caixin PMI tracks smaller and private companies more closely.Both supply and demand continued to improve in June, with the pace of manufacturing output growth accelerating for five straight months and the production subindex hitting a two-year high, according to Caixin.While the employment subindex remained in contractionary territory for the 10th straight month, it sh