(Bloomberg) -- China’s economy continued to recover in August but warning signs are flashing across a number of fronts as drought and weaker global demand add new risks to growth prospects.
GOP Fury Over ESG Triggers Backlash With US Pensions at Risk
Nearly 60,000 Sneakers in $85 Million Ponzi Scheme to Go on Sale
A 129-Foot Superyacht Worth Millions Sinks Off the Italian Coast
Korea Shatters Its Own Record for World’s Lowest Fertility Rate
Fed’s Jackson Hole Conference Is Underway: Here’s What to Expect
That’s the outlook based on Bloomberg’s aggregate index of eight early indicators for this month. The overall gauge was at 5, unchanged from July, signaling momentum has steadied.
Strong overseas demand for Chinese goods, which has helped to offset some of the damage from Covid lockdowns on domestic spending, weakened sharply in August. South Korean exports, a leading indicator for global trade, barely grew in the first 20 days of this month from a year earlier.
The 0.5% increase in South Korea’s average daily shipments was the weakest since late 2020 and was a marked slowdown from the 14.5% rise in the same period last month. A slump in Hong Kong’s July exports also showed how a cooling global economy, worldwide interest-rate hikes and Covid disruptions are affecting demand.
For China’s domestic economy, the picture isn’t rosy either. The property market slump extended into August, with sales continuing to plunge in China’s four top cities. That’s despite months of efforts by the government to boost lending to home buyers, lower mortgages rates and allow more flexibility for down payments.
The latest official data showed property loans in July grew at the weakest rate since comparable data began in 2012. Mortgage rates will likely continue to be cut to a record low of 4.1% after banks reduced their five-year loan prime rate by 15 basis points earlier this week to boost housing demand.
Growth in car sales was also much slower than in July, another indication of weak domestic demand. Premier Li Keqiang promised last week to maintain preferential policies that are designed to boost sales and stimulate demand for cleaner cars as part of efforts to support the development of the electric vehicle industry.
New economic headwinds this month, including a power crunch and Covid flareups, have hurt business confidence, especially among smaller firms. Standard Chartered Plc’s survey of more than 500 smaller companies showed confidence slipped in August as production activity “slowed significantly,” new orders weakened, and bank financing costs picked up.
“Ongoing Covid-led disruption and power-rationing measures imposed in some key production areas, including Sichuan, resulted in temporary factory shutdowns,” the firm’s economists Hunter Chan and Ding Shuang wrote in a report. “The disruption in production and sales resulted in a faster increase in raw material inventories and finished goods prices.”
Covid outbreaks continued to derail what is usually the peak season at some of China’s top summer hot spots. The seaside city of Beihai only recently emerged from a monthlong lockdown, more than 100,000 tourists were trapped on the tropical island of Hainan because of outbreaks there, while Tibet had tens of thousands of tourists stranded in the region due to canceled flights and road blocks to contain infections.
A drought-induced power shortage has forced factories to shut down and shopping malls to turn off lights, especially in cities in western China. Although the economic damage is expected to be smaller than from power shortages last year, economists still expect industrial output to be hit in August.
Policy makers on Wednesday stepped up their economic stimulus with a further 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) of funding largely focused on infrastructure spending. However, economists were relatively downbeat on the measures, saying they likely won’t go far enough to counter the damage from repeated Covid lockdowns and the property market slump.
Bloomberg Economics generates the overall activity reading by aggregating a three-month weighted average of the monthly changes of eight indicators, which are based on business surveys or market prices.
Major onshore stocks - CSI 300 index of A-share stocks listed in Shanghai or Shenzhen (through market close on 25th of the month).
Total floor area of home sales in China’s four Tier-1 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen).
Inventory of steel rebar, used for reinforcing in construction (in 10,000 metric tons). Falling inventory is a sign of rising demand.
Copper prices - Spot price for refined copper in Shanghai market (yuan/metric ton).
South Korean exports - South Korean exports in the first 20 days of each month (year-on-year change).
Factory inflation tracker - Bloomberg Economics-created tracker for Chinese producer prices (year-on-year change).
Small and medium-sized business confidence - Survey of companies conducted by Standard Chartered.
Passenger car sales - Monthly result calculated from the weekly average sales data released by the China Passenger Car Association.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Good Luck Finding a Seat in That Fancy Airport Lounge
A ‘Tsunami of Shutoffs’: 20 Million US Homes Are Behind on Energy Bills
How Deadly Bacteria Spread in a Similac Factory—and Caused the US Formula Shortage
Chipmaking’s Next Big Thing Guzzles as Much Power as Entire Countries
The Future of Shipping Is ... Sails?
Berkshire Hathaway is on pace to collect $6.07 billion in dividend income over the next 12 months. Just five holdings will account for 71% of total payouts.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) reported increasing losses in its second-quarter earnings report this week, but investors are shrugging that off, sending shares soaring Friday morning. Although its profit margins have been on a downward trend, new models being launched could turn that around in the coming years. Consumer prices in China increased at a slower pace than many expected in August, and producer inflation sank to the lowest level since February 2021, reports Reuters.
Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ: PTON) shares beat the market on Friday as the stock gained 11% by 1 p.m. ET compared to a 1.2% increase in the S&P 500. Shares have been reeling in recent months as Peloton struggled to boost sales of its exercise platforms or membership subscriptions to its services.
Tesla stock is climbing today in midday trade, up over 2% and up nearly 10% for the week. Here are two big stories driving shares today.
As we close in on the final quarter of 2022, investors are looking for an answer to one question: was June’s low the bottom for stocks, or do they have more room to fall? It’s a serious question, and there may be no easy answer. Markets are facing a series of headwinds, from the high inflation and rising interest rates that we’ve grown familiar with to an increasingly strong dollar that will put pressure on the upcoming Q3 earnings. Weighing in on current conditions from Charles Schwab, the $8 t
Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss fourth-quarter earnings for Zscaler.
Recently, Zacks.com users have been paying close attention to AT&T (T). This makes it worthwhile to examine what the stock has in store.
Gary Gensler had strong words for the crypto industry in a Thursday speech, telling an audience of lawyers that the "vast majority" of the nearly 10,000 existing crypto tokens are securities.
In an effort to streamline the regulation that governs how retirement accounts can be used, the IRS has proposed a change for 403(b) plans - a type of workplace retirement plan use mostly by public and non-profit employees. Employer-sponsored plans … Continue reading → The post The IRS Is Changing How Your Beneficiaries Receive Your Retirement Funds appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
The few cases that have already been tried have awarded average damages of $26 million. The case still has 230,000 military veterans awaiting their turn in court.
The S&P 500 is on again, off again all year. But investors clearly have a "buy list" of stocks they want to own when the rally looks real.
Virgin Galactic Holdings has lofty goals but the charts are looking like they will be stuck on the ground for the foreseeable future. Let's check. In this daily bar chart of SPCE, below, we have trouble finding technical inspiration for the bulls.
Let's examine two companies worth buying before the next bull market: Tandem Diabetes Care (NASDAQ: TNDM) and Block (NYSE: SQ). As its name suggests, Tandem Diabetes Care focuses on the diabetes market. At the moment, Tandem's most important product is the t:slim X2 insulin pump.
It's time to be extra picky.
Deciding when to time your retirement plan withdrawals matters for determining how long your money will last and what you'll pay in taxes for those distributions. If you have a 401(k) at work, you might follow the Rule of 55 … Continue reading → The post Rule of 55 vs. 72(t): Retirement Plan Withdrawals appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
(Bloomberg) -- A federal appeals court saved Citigroup Inc. from an epic blunder that became the talk of Wall Street, rejecting a ruling that Revlon Inc. creditors could keep more than half a billion dollars the bank accidentally sent them. Most Read from BloombergCharles Becomes King as the Face of a Nation ChangesDouble Rainbow Appears Over Buckingham Palace as Crowd Gathers to Mourn QueenQueen Elizabeth’s Doctors Are Concerned for Her HealthQueen Elizabeth II, Britain’s Longest-Reigning Monar
Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss second-quarter earnings for Kroger.
A couple of catalysts drove the crypto trading specialist higher, including an upgrade by a Wall Street analyst and news it plans to fund a court battle challenging a U.S. Treasury Department decision. Daiwa analyst Carlton Lai upgraded Coinbase to buy from outperform (weak buy), while maintaining his price target of $100. Furthermore, after "years of delay," he views the upcoming debut of Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) The Merge as "one of the crypto industry's biggest events this year."
Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss meme stocks and how they are performing amid a meme-fueled week.
Ford Motor Company (F) closed at $15.47 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.26% move from the prior day.