Chinese Q3 Economic Growth Heads Off Great Wall of Worry? (Reuters)
Investor fears of a Chinese slowdown weren’t necessarily allayed when China’s government announced economic growth of 7.4% for Q3 2012 — just about meeting expectations. However, commodity investors’ spirits were buoyed when China’s industrial output growth hit 9.2% for that same quarter — outpacing expectations. Bottomline? While investors in China itself aren’t in worry-free mode, commodities players can take heart from Chinese industrial output.
Asian Markets Build on U.S. Housing News & Commodities Figures (Breakingnews.ie)
Investors in Asian markets have reason to smile this morning as indices there were up across the board, following the lead of the U.S. market yesterday that was fueled by news that U.S. housing starts were much higher than expected in September. Combine this news with prospects for strong commodities performance in the region — based on China’s 9.2% industrial growth in Q312, and you have the making of a good morning, indeed, for investors in Far East public companies. Specifically, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.7% to 8,952.68. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5% to 21,523.50 and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.1% to 1,957.41. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.1% to 4,579.60, while the Aussie dollar touched two-week highs of 1.0397 on the strong news.
