The big news yesterday was China’s industrial production, which came in stronger than expected, rising 7% year on year in February, beating the anticipated 5% and making it the fastest pace of growth in two years. Notably, the markets are very negative towards China; hence, any ongoing signs of improvement are likely to see a dramatic move in some related areas of the market. Even retail sales came in better than expected yesterday, printing 5.5%, above economists’ forecasts of 5.2%, with online sales up an impressive +14.4% to start the year. With fixed asset investment up 4.2%, more than the expected 3.2%, it was a rare good day for the Chinese economic outlook.
