Economic activity in the emerging market increased at slightly faster pace in the fourth quarter, helped mainly by a turnaround in manufacturing, but growth remained well below the pre-crisis levels, data from a survey by HSBC Bank and Markit Economics showed Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index (PMI) for emerging market increased to 52.9 in the fourth quarter from 52.2 in the third quarter, marking the first upward movement since the first quarter of 2012. An index reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below suggests decline.

The overall growth was driven by a notable increase in manufacturing activity during the final three months of 2012, following a modest contraction in the third quarter. New orders in the manufacturing sector increased at the second-fastest rate since the second quarter of 2011, reflecting mainly a pick-up in domestic infrastructure investment.

The combined manufacturing and service sectors of the major BRIC economies registered growth in the fourth quarter, as Brazil posted a return to growth following stagnation in the fourth quarter. Growth picked up in China, but remained relatively weak, while India posted a broadly stable solid rate of expansion. Meanwhile, Russia registered the best rate of output growth since the second quarter of 2010.

The survey showed that there are encouraging signs of growth for the manufacturing sector in the emerging market for the early months of 2013.

The emerging world as a whole, is forecast to expand 5.4 percent in 2013, up from 4.8 percent in 2012. China, the second largest economy, is expected to grow at a faster rate of 8.6 percent in 2013 than 7.8 percent in 2012, data showed.

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