Today’s Stock Exchanges, April 18th. The Chinese recovery accelerates, but the markets are not confident
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MILAN – The Chinese recovery is accelerating, but the markets are not entirely confident. Beijing has released encouraging numbers on economic activity. Retail sales rebounded in March with an annual +10.6%, accelerating sharply from 3.5% in January-February and doing better than the 7.6% expected on average by analysts, in the wake of the easing of measures containment of Covid. The GDP benefited from this, with a progression of 4.5% in the first quarter, which improves on the +2.9% of that closed in December. But analysts saw the forecasts for industrial production disappointed, even at their highest since October (+3.9% in March) but below the level expected on the eve. Speaking to Bloomberg, analyst Willer Chen also remarked that investment in real estate remains at a standstill, echoing concerns about an apparent rebound in a sector that has recently given Beijing many headaches. For the rest, the markets are waiting to read the US quarterly accounts and understand what the central banks will do.
Asian stocks in no particular order after Chinese data
Asian stock exchanges are proceeding in random order and reducing losses after the Chinese economy rose more than expected in the first quarter, with GDP that settled at +4.5%, above the expected +4% but below the target of 5% set by the government for the end of the year. But while the reading showed the country is on track for an economic recovery, other data pointed to an uneven rebound. Industrial production missed estimates for the second consecutive month in March, showing the country’s important manufacturing sector is still struggling to recover from the lows of the Covid-era. Investors also remain cautious as mounting global economic uncertainties and the prospect of further US central bank policy tightening weighed on sentiment. In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.12% and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.2%. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng lost 0.92% and in Seoul the Kospi 0.28%. Well Tokyo, with the Nikkei rising by 0.45%.
Wall Street, weak futures
Weak futures on Wall Street after yesterday’s cautious increase in anticipation of the quarterly results, whose season is now in full swing. The accounts of J&J, Bofa, Netflix, Lockeed Martin, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, United Airlines are expected during the day. Dow Jones futures fell 0.01%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.04% and Nasdaq futures fell 0.11%.
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