In manufacturing, managers are using data from the shop floor to improve quality and lower cost.
China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for May, which contracted and fell to a seven-month low.
Markit's eurozone manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 46.3 in December from 46.2 in November.
HSBC's initial China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a two-year high of 51.9 in January.
India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, prepared by Markit, was at 54.2 in February, compared with 53.2 in January.
China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for May fell to 49.6, indicating a contraction.
On August 2, The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index was released, showing a decline to 49.4 from 50.4 in June.
Regional investors took some encouragement from China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for February, which rose to 51.0 from 50.5 in January.
The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index unexpectedly fell to a reading of 49 in May, which reflects a contracting economy.
The euro area manufacturing purchasing managers index reversed most of its decline recorded since April, its cyclical high, rising to 56.5 from 55.6.
Separately, Markit's euro-zone manufacturing purchasing managers' index for March came in at 46.8, down from 47.9 in February, but above an earlier March estimate of 46.6.
There was some more weak economic data coming out of China overnight, as the Chinese non-manufacturing purchasing managers index fell in September, while consumer sentiment also weakened last month.
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Meanwhile, HSBC's preliminary or "flash" reading of China manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index showed Monday that activity improved in April from levels seen in March, but remained below the threshold of 50, indicating a contraction.
The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 48.1 in June compared with a final reading of 48.4 in May, strengthening the case for further policy steps aimed at boosting China's growth.
The manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace since June 2011 in February, according to the Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index, while U.S. consumer confidence was at its highest level since November, according to Thomson-Reuters and University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index.
The wheeler-dealers and quasi-wildcatters who pioneered the field have been replaced by engineers talking efficiency and managers describing manufacturing processes.
The June manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) came in better than expected at 50.2 for June, while market consensus estimates had it at 49.9 versus the May survey results of 50.4.
Purchasing managers in manufacturing firms also report mounting orders.
The purchasing managers survey for manufacturing - the PMI - hit a ten-month high in March, and the service sector survey for that month made back nearly all of the fall of the previous month.
The National Association of Purchasing Managers' index of manufacturing activity fell to 43.6 in July from 44.7 a month before.
There are a few U.S. economic reports on tap for next week, with housing data and manufacturing data, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index.
The National Association of Purchasing Managers' index of manufacturing activity rose to 47.9 in August from 43.6 a month before, its biggest monthly gain in five years.
An index of manufacturing based on a survey of purchasing managers edged up in January.
There is a severe shortage of educated and skilled managers and workers to address manufacturing and service needs.
The composite purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing and services industries rose to 48.3 in December from 47.0 in November.
If, on top of this, manufacturing is outsourced as well, Japanese managers need never confront the yawning divide between Japan and the rest of the world.
And a survey of purchasing managers earlier this month found that manufacturing expanded at a slower pace in March compared with February.
The Purchasing Managers Index, used to gauge manufacturing and economic health on point scale, shows that 2012 will not be a strong year.
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An index of manufacturing conditions based on the views of purchasing managers rose in April to its highest since 1994, reported Markit, an economic-research firm, on May 4th.
The euro zone's purchasing-managers index, a gauge of manufacturing activity, fell in November to a level consistent with a 1% quarterly drop in gross domestic product, according to research firm Capital Economics.
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