China's inflation surges

China's inflation rate continued to rise in October even as the economy showed signs of slowing. AFP/CNA reports:

China said Thursday that consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than two years in October, raising expectations of another rate hike as Beijing admits it may miss its 2010 inflation target.

The consumer price index -- or CPI, a key measure of inflation -- rose 4.4 percent year-on-year last month, compared with 3.6 percent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said...

New lending in October fell slightly from the previous month to 587.7 billion yuan (US$88.6 billion), the central bank said Thursday...

Industrial output from China's factories rose 13.1 percent on year, slower than September's 13.3 percent rise, as Beijing closed highly polluting operators and rationed power to energy-intensive industries.

Fixed asset investment in urban areas, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, rose 24.4 percent in the January-October period, slightly slower than the 24.5 percent in the first nine months of the year.

Retail sales, a key measure of consumer spending, rose 18.6 percent on-year.

Japan's machinery orders data on Thursday adds to earlier evidence that its economy may be experiencing an even more serious slowdown. Again from AFP/CNA:

Japan's core machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, logged the biggest fall in more than two years as demand from manufacturing firms shrank, data showed Thursday.

The core orders, which exclude particularly volatile demand from power companies and for ships, fell 10.3 percent in September from the previous month, the Cabinet Office said.