SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s factory activity contracted in October after briefly expanding a month earlier as businesses remained cautious amid a global outlook clouded by Washington’s tariff policies.

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturers in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, released by S&P Global, fell to 49.4 in October, from 50.7 in September.

The 50-mark separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis. Conditions in South Korea’s manufacturing sector have now deteriorated for eight of the past nine months.

Businesses reported contractions in both output and new orders and cited a domestic downturn as well as the impact of U.S. tariffs weighing on overall demand.

“The positive signals for the South Korean manufacturing economy observed at the end of the thir

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