HSBC ends marketing tie-up with Markit to produce China purchasing managers index

SHANGHAI, June 26 (Reuters) - HSBC has ended its marketing tie-up with financial information firm Markit Ltd (NasdaqGS: MRKT - news) to produce the China Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), an HSBC spokesperson in Shanghai told Reuters on Friday.

The spokesperson described the cooperation with Markit to produce the closely-watched index, as a success but said that HSBC was moving to developing other opportunities.

Market insiders have been speculating about the end of the tie-up for months, especially since HSBC economist had recently stopped providing comments to accompany the reports.

The private survey's findings often differ from results from official PMI data produced by the National Bureau of Statistics, but the HSBC/Markit report tended to focus on smaller and mid-sized companies, while the official survey reflected activity at larger, often state-owned firms.

Markit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Pete Sweeney, Lawrence White and Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)