China’s Inflation Rate Increases, Asian and European Stocks Increase
For the month of June, the inflation rate of the Chinese economy grew to 2.7 percent. The rate is higher than the 2.1 percent rate in May and way below the 3.5 percent estimate of the Chinese government. The increase was triggered by a 4.9 percent increase in food costs which is rather unusual due to the excessive capacity to produce and cheap costs of raw materials.
Alaistar Chan of Moody's Analytics said that the inflation rate increase can be attributed to the low prices last year. He added that inflation is something that is largely untracked in China due to a large output and lack of regulatory provisions. The recent inflation increase also contributed to the decrease of economic growth from 7.9 percent in the last quarter of 2012 to 7.7 in the first quarter of 2013.
However, experts predict that growth could go below seven percent due to a weaker demand for Chinese products and to regulate the current credit surge. Even though the economy has taken a downward course, the Chinese government refused to approve a new stimulus package as they try to boost consumption in the country. This shift will help them diversify their economy from the usual exports and investment industries.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Statistics report a 2.7 percent slide in commodity prices in June. This figure was brought about by an 8.5-percent price reduction from the mining industry and cheaper costs for raw materials. Mr Chan predicts that due to the Chinese government's movements and outlook, Mr Chan expects the downward trend to continue until the end of the year.
Despite the latest figures regarding the Chinese economy, Asian stock markets prevailed due to the reduction of the monetary stimulus by the United States Federal Reserve. The Nikkei 225 index of Japan went up by 2.1 percent while the S&P/ASX 200 of Australia is up by 1.5 percent. In other markets, the Kospi of South Korea increased by 0.4 percent while Taiex of Taiwan moved up by one percent.
In other Asian markets, Hang Seng of Hong Kong improved by 0.3 percent while the Shanghai Composite went up by 0.3 percent. However, the Indonesian stock market went down by 0.6 percent. The stronger markets in Asia are brought about by a stronger standing of the U.S. economy based on increased employment and a reduction of federal support for the economy.
Due to this positive development, the Dow Jones went up by 0.6 percent while Standard & Poor's 500 registered a 0.5 percent increase. European markets also rose as FTSE 100 improved by 0.4 percent while the DAX of Germany went up by an impressive 2.1 percent. France's CAC-40 is not far behind with a 1.9 percent increase.
However, this trend could change depending on what will transpire during the latest policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve as delivered by Chairman Ben Bernanke. Yet, there is widespread belief that the Federal Reserve will reduce its $85 million bond purchases every month to keep interest rates at bay. With reports from AP