Japanese carmaker Nissan reports a small rise in full-year profits, but sales in its key market of China fell following a territorial row between Japan and China.
Visit link: Nissan profit up but China sales dip
Category : World News
Dip in April PMI shows ‘foundation for China’s economic recovery is still not solid’, says economist
Growth in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly slowed in April, with the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) falling to 50.6 from March’s 11-month high of 50.9 as new export orders and input prices contracted, data showed on Wednesday.
The outcome was lower than market expectations in a Reuters poll of 51.0, but figure from the National Bureau of Statistics showed the PMI has stayed above the watershed mark of 50, which separates expansion from contraction compared with a month earlier, for seven straight months.
A subindex measuring new orders fell to 51.7 in April from 52.3 in March, while new export orders swung into contraction, falling to 48.6 from 50.9 in March.
“The dip in April PMI shows that the foundation for China’s economic recovery is still not solid,” said Zhang Liqun, an economist at the Development Research Centre, a government thinktank in Beijing. “The fall in new orders shows a change to destocking from restocking. And the plunge in input price index reflects negative expectations from companies.
“All these show the possibility for China’s growth to slow slightly in the future. We must work to stabilise domestic demand and make our economic recovery more sustainable.”
Another PMI survey, which is sponsored by HSBC and takes into account more small- and medium-sized firms in the private sector than the official one, is scheduled to be published on Thursday.
Its preliminary April reading, published last week, fell to 50.5 from 51.6 in March as new export orders shrank.
The fall in the official China PMI is the latest in a gloomy string of global data, including from the United States and Europe, which has dented optimism at the start of the year that the global economy was picking up.
China’s financial markets are closed for a holiday and will open on Thursday.
Category : Business
UK house prices fell by 0.1% in April compared with the previous month, according to a survey by the Nationwide.
Link: House prices ‘alter little in March’
Category : Business
Barclays adjusted first quarter profits fell 25% to £1.8bn, largely due to the bank’s restructuring programme.
Read more: Barclays first quarter profits fall 25%
Italian borrowing costs fell to record lows this morning after presidential deadlock broken, with Giorgio Napolitano agreeing to serve a second term
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