Key insights
- China's March industrial output increased by 5.7%, slightly above expectations, while retail sales growth slowed to 1.7%. Fixed asset investment also showed weaker-than-expected expansion. The mixed data suggests a potential dampening of economic momentum in China, which could have a slightly negative impact on US equities due to concerns about global growth and demand.
(Corrects fixed asset investment to increase of 1.8% in Jan-Feb, not 1.9%, in last paragraph)
BEIJING, April 16 (Reuters) - China’s industrial output rose 5.7% in March from a year earlier, slowing from 6.3% growth in January-February, as the fallout from the Iran war dampened momentum in the world’s second-largest economy.
The output data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) beat expectations for a 5.5% rise in a Reuters poll of 36 analysts.
Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, grew 1.7% in March, down from the 2.8% growth in January-February. Analysts had forecast a 2.3% rise.
Fixed asset investment expanded 1.7% in the first quarter, versus expectations for 1.9% growth. It increased 1.8% in the first two months.