business

Asian shares sink as China says 1Q growth at 4.8%

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By ELAINE KURTENBACH

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Ukraine was sending top officials to Washington for this week’s spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank amid dire warnings about the impact of the Russian invasion on the global economy.

As horrific as Putin's actions in the Ukraine have been, the IMF and World Bank actions also could easily qualify as war crimes.

https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-3889/

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Stocks closing down the day at around -1 percent is hardly to be called "sink" .

Do people not know the meaning of words?

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China reported Monday that its economy expanded at a 4.8% annual pace in January-March . . . China’s growth has fallen well below the official target of 5.5% for 2022.

Umm, to be precise, Chinese economy expanded only 4.8% YOY in Q1 of 2022, above market consensus of 4.4%, over 4.0% growth in the previous quarter.

More significantly, China's retail sales fell 3.5% YOY , down for the 1st time since July 2020, and worse than market expectations of a 1.6 percent fall. Sales were down for most categories: cosmetics (-6.3% vs in 7% January-February), garments (-12.7% vs 4.8%), jewelry (-17.9% vs 19.5%), personal care(-0.8% vs 10.7%), home appliances (-4.3% vs 12.7%), furniture (-8.8% vs -6%), and automobiles (-7.5% vs 3.9%), office supplies (9.8% vs 11.1%), telecoms (3.1% vs 4.8%), and oil products (10.5% vs 25.6%). Sales of building materials eased sharply (0.4% vs 6.2%).

Also significantly, China's nationwide survey-based jobless rate at 5.8%, the highest since May 2020, and up from 5.5% in February. The unemployment rate of the population aged 16-24 rose to 16 percent in March from 15.3 percent in the previous month.

Also, China's industrial capacity utilization rate fell to 75.8% in the first quarter of 2022 from 77.2% in the same period a year earlier, the weakest reading since the June quarter 2020.

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Alsoa announced: India's annual wholesale price inflation rate rose to 14.55% in March 2022 from 13.11% a month earlier and above market forecasts of 13%. Prices accelerated for manufactured products (10.71% vs 9.84%), basic metals (25.97% vs 19.82%), fuel and power (34.52% vs 31.5%), and primary articles (15.54% vs 13.39%), despite a slowdown in cost of food articles (8.06% vs 8.19%). On a monthly basis, wholesale prices increased by 2.69% in March, the most since the series began in 2004.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the often watched NAHB housing market index fell to 77 in April of 2022 from 79 in March, in line with market expectations. The index fell for a fourth consecutive month to the lowest since September 2021, as a sharp jump in mortgage rates, persistent supply chain disruptions, elevated housing prices and construction costs continue to unsettle the housing market.

Also watch commodities. Corn futures rose to an almost 10-year high of $8 per bushel, while wheat increased to a 5-week high of 1141 USd/Bu. Steel rebar futures rose past CNY 5,100 per tonne in the third week of April, the highest in nearly six months. Heating oil futures rose to $3.9 per barrel, a six week high, while gasoline futures settled back to around $3.38 a barrel after hitting an near three-week high of $3.43. Trading Economics.

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Also announced, not "alsoa announced." Sorry!

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