Mixed manufacturing survey keep a lid on global markets

Business magazine, Caixin, said its gauge of manufacturing activity — the so-called purchasing managers' index — rose to 50.6 from June's 48.6 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show expansion.

Separately, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, an industry group, said its PMI edged down to 49.9 in July from 50 in June.

ANALYST TAKE: "On the one hand, it's positive that the small to medium private firms that are covered more by the Caixin reading are finally seeing the benefit of all the stimulus efforts," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

The flip side of this though is that the official number which covers large state owned businesses is clearly struggling with the transition.

Later, the Institute for Supply Management will publish its equivalent report into the state of the manufacturing sector in the U.S. The survey will garner a lot of interest in light of last Friday's report showing that the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.2 percent in the second quarter of the year, half the rate anticipated in the markets.