China Manufacturing Activity Contracts Hits 3-Year Low
China’s manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth straight month in January, signalling persistent weakness, official data showed on Monday.
China’s manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth straight month in January, signalling persistent weakness, official data showed on Monday.
The start of the new year has seen no let up in the torrid time for commodities and commodity currencies, but for copper the continued uncertainty inĀ China (FXI, quote) coupled with US dollar (UUP, quote) strength and lack of global economic growth continues to weigh particularly heavily, with the base metal breaking through the psychological $2.00 per lb price point, and currently trading at $1.965 per lb at time
China’s (FXI, quote) economic growth is predicted to further decelerate this year to 6.7 percent, the slowest since 1991, trapped by manufacturing overcapacity and sluggish export, said a think tank report on Tuesday.
If traders drifting back to their desks for the start of the new trading year were expecting a quiet start, Chinese economic news delivered a shock to global markets with the Caixin Manufacturing index coming in below expectation at 48.2 against a forecast of 48.9, with the Nikkei 225 falling almost 600 points to close at 18,450.98 on the release.
South Korea’s parliament on Monday ratified its free trade agreement (FTA) with China during the plenary session.
Universal Parks & Resorts, a division of NBC Universal which owns Universal Studios Hollywood, expects to open North China’s first international theme park in Beijing by 2020.
China’s consumer inflation came in weaker than expected in October while prices at factory gates fell for a 44th straight month, fuelling calls for more monetary easing and fiscal stimulus to combat deflationary pressures.
Many of the world’s greatest investors have been willing to buy at a time when the majority of the market was turning away from a particular sector.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, decided on Friday to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) of banks, and benchmark interest rates.
Jack Ma, executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA, quote), has been appointed as a non-remunerated member of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group, according to Agence France-Presse.