Business sentiment in China dropped to the lowest level in five months in September, after reaching an eight month high in August, as the impact of stimulus measures waned and companies re-assessed their outlook for the future.

The MNI China Business Indicator fell to 52.2 in September from a revised 57.3 in August. This drop was led by a decline in confidence among manufacturing companies. Overall, the short-term outlook among all monitored firms showed a sharp decline.

The Future Expectations Indicator fell to 53.4 in September from 61.8 in August.The fall in overall sentiment was accompanied by declines in both production and new orders.

Companies reported that credit conditions were the tightest since February, having risen to a three year high in August.

The MNI China Business Sentiment is a monthly poll of Chinese business executives at companies listed on either the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges. MNI Indicators is part of MNI, a news and intelligence provider and a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Börse AG.