China's factory sector edged up to a four month high in February.

China's factory sector edged up but export orders shrank at their fastest rate in 20 months, painting a gloomy outlook that argues for more policy support. The flash HSBC/Markit PMI crept up to 50.1 (just above contraction) in February, while the new export orders sub-index dropped three points to 47.1, the sharpest rate of contraction since June 2013. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's GDP was reported to have slowed to 2.3% in 2014 and weakened to 0.4% in the fourth quarter as pro-democracy protests froze parts of the city.