Market Currents

• Wednesday, December 30, 2009

• 13:28 PM Nomura's Richard Koo, an expert on the Japanese 1980s bubble (whose 20th anniversary is this week), says China seems to have learned key lessons from its neighbor's mistakes, and thinks Beijing policymakers deserve high marks for their all-in effort to prop up the economy through a period of global balance-sheet shrinkage. (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 2 Comments

• Monday, December 28, 2009

• 08:23 AM Profits at Chinese industrial companies rose 7.8% through November, reversing a 10.6% drop in the previous survey and ending a year of declines. The sharp rebound offers clear evidence of a stronger recovery for China's businesses, led by gains in energy and natural resources sectors. (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 1 Comment

• Friday, December 25, 2009

• 04:28 AM China revises 2008 GDP higher:
  - Gross GDP +4.5% to 31.4T yuan
  - Real growth of 9.6% vs. previous 9%
  - Used 5.2% less energy per 10,000 yuan
  - Services were 41.8% of GDP vs. 40.1%
  (Source: NBS, ETFs: PGJ, FXI) 5 Comments

• Wednesday, December 23, 2009

• 05:11 AM People's Bank of China this morning: "Our nation's economic situation is generally improving, but the internal strength of the economic recovery is still not enough, and structural contradictions still exist, [making] a change to the path of economic development ever more urgent." (ETFs: PGJ, FXI) 1 Comment

• Friday, December 11, 2009

• 07:29 AM China's factory output soared 19.2% in November, a seventh straight month of growth. Urban fixed asset investment was up 32.1%, and planned new construction roared 76.6% higher vs. a year ago. Retail sales were up a strong 15.8%. Just in case there's any question who's fueling the recovery... (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 1 Comment

• Tuesday, December 8, 2009

• 09:21 AM China is experiencing "a clear V-shaped recovery," Zhu Min, vice-governor of the People's Bank of China said Tuesday. China analysts believe recent rhetoric, including a vow to "strictly" control new investment projects, suggests that 2010 fiscal policy will be much less accommodative than it was this year. (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 2 Comments

• Tuesday, November 17, 2009

• 11:02 AM The Chinese economy should grow 8-10% in coming years, World Bank Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin says. China's growth potential is huge, partly due to its well-established infrastructure which will help its economy to grow strongly in coming years, Lin said on the sidelines of a global financial conference in Seoul. (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 1 Comment

• Wednesday, November 11, 2009

• 07:31 AM China's exports continued to improve, falling 13.8% in October vs. a 15.2% decline in September and 20%-plus drops earlier in the year. Chinese authorities have begun urging banks to be more cautious in lending, and today the PBOC warned "definite expectations of inflation have formed in the market." (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 5 Comments

• Tuesday, October 27, 2009

• 09:40 AM China reports a 190% jump in overseas investment (to $20.5B in Q3), and predicts industrial production will rise 16% in Q4 after a 13.9% gain in Q3. Analysts say Beijing may be encouraging Chinese companies to invest abroad to ease upward pressure on the yen. (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) Comment!

• Monday, October 26, 2009

• 10:20 AM China's economic growth is likely to speed up this quarter, but the government will stay the course with its loose fiscal policy, senior officials said today. Still, analysts say an unmistakable optimistic shift in official statements signal Beijing is starting to think about how to unwind its pro-growth policies. (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 2 Comments

• Monday, October 19, 2009

• 06:22 AM China's Q3 GDP seen striking 9% according to a forecast today from China's State Council, following 7.9% and 7.1% growth in Q1 and Q2. Cantor Fitzgerald economist Uwe Parpart was upbeat, saying the China factor "has already proved more important than most economists had thought possible. A process of global rebalancing is underway and is capable of forestalling an economic double-dip." (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) Comment!

• Friday, September 11, 2009

• 08:12 AM More signs of a China recovery (bubble?): China's industrial output rose at a faster pace than forecast in August (+12.3%), new lending spiked to 410B yuan ($60B, vs. consensus of 320B yuan), and retail sales were up a robust 15.4%, sending the Shanghai Composite up 2.2%. (ETFs: FXI, PGJ) 6 Comments

• Tuesday, September 1, 2009

• 08:34 AM Spurred by record lending, China's manufacturing grew at the fastest rate in 16 months in August, adding to evidence that the country will meet its 8% growth target this year. (ETFs: PGJ, FXI) 3 Comments

• Monday, August 24, 2009

• 07:55 AM Japan's climb out of its worst post-war recession is being driven by strong demand from China, says a Japanese official, and China could overtake Japan as the world's No. 2 economy as soon as next year. (ETFs: EWJ, PGJ, FXI) 2 Comments

• Monday, August 17, 2009

• 05:40 AM FDI in China fell for the tenth month in a row, dropping 35.7% in July from the year before vs. a 6.76% drop in June. Officials said China's FDI is 'still healthy' compared to the rest of the world. (ETFs: PGJ, FXI) 1 Comment

• Wednesday, August 12, 2009

• 08:00 AM Chinese industrial output climbed for the third month in a row, rising 10.8% in July Y/Y thanks to the government's aggressive stimulus efforts. (ETFs: PGJ, FXI) 1 Comment