Chinese Economy Ends Year On Sour Note. Foreign Stock-Buying Plunges

The Chinese economy closed out a bad year with a fittingly lackluster read on factory and services  sector activity. The official manufacturing PMI for December printed an underwhelming 49, missing estimates in data released Sunday. It was the worst reading in six months and the eighth contraction-territory print in nine. Although the non-manufacturing gauge came in at 50.4, that was entirely thanks to the construction gauge. The services index was unchanged from November at 49.3, a lackluste