Can anything stop rising inflation? asks Daniel Moss on Bloomberg. How about a Chinese slowdown? The world’s second-biggest economy grew at a record 18.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of the year but has slowed sharply. GDP rose by an annual 4.9% in the third quarter, the slowest pace in a year and down from the 7.9% rate recorded between April and June, says Katie Silver for the BBC. Soaring commodity prices have seen many provinces impose electricity rationing, which is weighing on industries such as cement, steel and aluminium smelting.
China’s benchmark CSI 300 stock index is down by 6.5% since the start of the year. A crackdown on debt in the property sector – highlighted by the woes of developer Evergrande – has also hit construction activity, says Martin Strydom in The Times. “New construction starts slumped in September for a sixth straight month, the longest series of monthly declines since 2015.”
China’s slowdown has been “more pronounced than anticipated”, says Moss. Lower Chinese demand could cool the rally in many commodity prices. It won’t necessarily be deflationary, however: closed factories will reduce the global supply of essential goods. Factory-gate prices, a measure of the prices manufacturers charge wholesalers, grew at their “fastest pace since records began in 1996” last month, says Strydom.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
China has been contending with a “triple shock” from power cuts, the pandemic and the property slowdown, says The Economist. A Covid-19 “cluster that began in Nanjing in July, prompted strict, localised lockdowns [and] airlines were operating at less than half their full capacity in August”. Year-on-year growth could slow further “to 4% or below” in the final quarter of this year.
-
IMF suggests “refinements” to Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rulesThe IMF has upgraded the UK’s growth forecast but wants Reeves to refine her fiscal rules to avoid unnecessary spending cuts or tax rises
-
Invest like a tortoise, not a hare to avoid market volatilityOpinion Hassan Raza, Portfolio Manager at CG Asset Management, highlights three favourite investment companies
-
'Rachel Reeves' plan to force pension funds into UK assets won't work'Opinion Hustling pension fund cash into British assets sounds like a good idea. It would be better to make Britain an attractive place to invest, says Matthew Lynn
-
Supersonic travel: How China could 'leapfrog' US and Europe's commercial aviation industryOpinion Innovation in commercial aviation has been stuck for 60 years. A commercial supersonic jet might be back on the market soon, but will China get there first?
-
How British businesses can tackle Trump's tariffsThe majority of British businesses are likely to take a hit from the chaos caused by Trump’s tariffs to reorder global trade. Companies in the firing line face some difficult decisions, says David Prosser
-
Trump wants to colonise Mars – will it happen?Donald Trump wants to plant the US flag on Mars. Could humans really live there?
-
Why are energy bills so expensive in the UK?Electricity bills in the UK are higher than in any comparable rich country. Some blame the net-zero zealotry of the government for that. What is really to blame for high energy bills?
-
Will Putin invade Europe? Why investors know Russia is a paper tigerOpinion Markets are right to ignore talk of Putin invading Europe, says Max King.
-
Why French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for officeMarine Le Pen, presidential candidate and leader of France's right-wing National Rally party, has been barred from standing by the country's judges.
-
Five years on: what did Covid cost us?We’re still counting the costs of the global coronavirus pandemic – and governments’ responses. What did we learn?
