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China's economy on the road to recovery

Investor restraint remained noticeable on stock exchanges at the beginning of the week. While equity indices on Wall Street started the week with slight gains, markets in Asia trended inconsistently today. On the positive side, the Chinese economy recovered significantly in the first quarter. After the quite positive balance sheet data of large US banks, financial markets are now eagerly awaiting the further course of the corporate reporting season as well as the regular economic report (Beige Book) of the Fed on the economic development in the US on Wednesday. 

Date
Author
Alessandro Fezzi, LGT
Reading time
5 minutes
China port
© Shutterstock

Asia's stock markets trended slightly negative on Tuesday. In Shanghai, the Composite Index fell slightly, and the Shenzhen Component fell 0.18 %. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 0.75%, weighed down by stocks in the consumer cyclical and technology segments. China's economy rebounded in the first quarter after the end of the zero-covid strategy in early December, posting a 4.5% year-on-year growth rate. Economists had expected 4.0%. In the final quarter of 2022, GDP growth had slowed to 2.9%. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%, marking the eighth consecutive day of gains. 

In New York, stock indices closed with slight gains on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial closed 0.3% higher at 33,987.18 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.33% to 4,151.32 points, while on the Nasdaq the indices were virtually unchanged. A positive surprise was delivered by the Empire State Index of the New York Fed. According to this, sentiment in industry in the New York economic region improved more significantly than expected. The industrial barometer climbed in April from negative 24.6 in March to plus 10.8 points (consensus -18.0). In positive territory, the indicator signals growth in the regional sector. As a result, the yield on ten-year US government bonds rose further to 3.6% and the US dollar traded at around 1.0930 against the euro. 

Corporate news in focus: Sika Q1 sales, Ericsson Q1 figures, Anglo American capital markets day. In the US, the following companies publish their Q1 figures: Netflix, Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, First Horizon, Johnson & Johnson, United Airlines.

Economic data in focus: ZEW Economic Sentiment for April and Eurozone Trade Balance for March (11:00 CET). From the US, figures on housing starts and building permits for March (14:30 CET).

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Publisher: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., Glärnischstrasse 36, CH-8027 Zurich
Editor: Alessandro Fezzi,
Source: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

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