Saturday 10 November 2012

China and US report positive economic data but Europe and Japan show more signs of deterioration

Worries over China's economy receded further after reports released on Friday.

Industrial production rose 9.6 percent in October from a year earlier, more than the 9.2 percent increase in September. Retails sales rose 14.5 percent in October compared with 14.2 percent in September. Fixed-asset investment excluding rural areas increased 20.7 percent in the first 10 months of 2012 from a year earlier compared with a 20.5 percent increase in the January-September period.

Inflation slowed to 1.7 percent in October from 1.9 percent in September.

There was also good news for the US on Friday.

US consumer confidence improved again in November. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 84.9, the fourth straight increase and the highest since July 2007, from 82.6 in October.

Also, with another report on Friday showing that inventories at US wholesalers rose 1.1 percent in September, third quarter GDP growth looks set to be revised significantly up from the initial estimate of 2.0 percent.

In contrast, the data from Europe on Friday were negative.

French industrial production fell 2.7 percent in September while Italian industrial production fell 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, German inflation was unchanged at 2.1 percent in October.

The news from Japan on Friday was also negative, with the consumer confidence index for general households falling to 39.7 in October from 40.1 in September.

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