"With the rate of inventory accumulation also remaining low, the sector should advance further into expansion territory at the start of 2013," said David Hensley, director of Global Economics Coordination at JPMorgan.
In the United States, the PMI hit 50.7 in December up from 49.5 in November though Germany`s reading slipped from 46.8 in November to 46.0 in December and has stayed consistently below the 50 mid-point since February.
For China, the Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Markit manufacturing PMI posted a 51.5 score in December, up from 50.5 in November.
Manufacturing PMI measures the level of output of a country`s manufacturing sector based on production, orders and employment.