Chinese economy: Weak inflation figures rekindle investors’ worries over China slowdown
Weak data from China pulled Asian markets down overnight, as consumer inflation fell back and producer prices continued their deflation unabated.
The country’s consumer price index fell from its 13-month high of two per cent in August to 1.6 per cent in September, dragged by slowing food prices.
This is lower than economists had predicted, as a recent Reuters poll had the average forecast at 1.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, the producer price index shows deflation hitting its fastest pace in six years, tumbling 5.9 per cent below the level they were at a year ago. This marks China’s 43rd consecutive month of producer deflation.
This morning’s figures follow on from yesterday’s trade data, which showed that China's imports tumbled further than forecast despite hitting a record-high trade surplus, with exports holding up far better than expected.
The latest batch of data failed to assuage investors’ worries over a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy, and weighed on Asian stocks overnight.
The Shanghai Composite was down 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.7 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei index down two per cent.
The tech-focused Shenzhen Composite was also down 0.2 per cent.