China Manufacturing Sector Expands in September, AUD Trades Lower

China's manufacturing sector continued its upward trend in September, according to data released by RatingDog. The country's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for manufacturing climbed to 52.1 in September from 51.5 in August.

This exceeded the market forecast of 51.6 and marked a second consecutive month of expansion in the sector. In contrast, China's Services PMI ticked higher to 51.6 in September, beating the previous figure of 51.4 but falling short of the expected 51.1.

The Australian Dollar (AUD), often seen as a proxy for China's economic performance, traded lower against major currencies following the release of the data. The AUD/USD pair lost 0.40% on the day to trade at 0.6960.