China’s central bank has injected more monetary stimulus in a surprise move as the economy survives the property downturn and battles an ongoing pandemic.
China’s central bank stunned global markets with a surprise injection of monetary stimulus as the world’s No. 2 economy tries to mitigate the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, and survive a downturn in its property sector that poses a further risk to growth this year.
Beijing’s measures struck analysts as aggressive and suggest policymakers anticipate more challenges ahead , but it was also the weakest quarterly expansion in 18 months in year-on-year terms. December industrial output exceeded expectations, but retail sales were a big miss, up by a mere 1.7 per cent last month, against expectations for a gain of 3.7 per cent.The Hang Seng was 0.6 per cent lower ahead of the close in Hong Kong, while the CSI 300 index of mainland Chinese shares was up 0.9 per cent.
"Travel restrictions could be implemented for the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays, crimping retail spending," he said.Facing inflation at nearly a 40-year high, almost nothing can deter the Fed's hawkishness. Also, a survey from the University of Michigan showed US consumer sentiment fell to 68.8 in January, from 70.6 in December, as consumers fretted about surging inflation and the Biden administration's aptitude to halt it. Both current conditions and expectations were soft, with one-year ahead inflation expectations rising to 4.9 per cent, from 4.8 per cent, while five-year expectations edged up to 3.1 per cent, from 2.9 per cent, the highest level since 2011.