The drama of the last few sessions was nowhere to be seen at Wednesday’s open – though given the latest round of Chinese data, the markets can be relieved there wasn’t more trouble.
Every key metric coming out of Beijing missed the mark. April’s fixed asset investment arrived at 6.1% against the 6.4% forecast; retail sales fell far faster than expected, at 7.2% against the previous month’s 8.7%; and industrial production limped in at a dismal 5.4%, well off the estimated 6.5%, and an alarming shift from March’s 8.5%.
This latter figure caused a flurry of worry in the UK mining sector, with losses ranging from Rio Tinto's (LON:RIO) 0.6% dip to Antofagasta's (LON:ANTO) 1.4% slide. Yet the FTSE managed to avoid a disastrous start to trading, limiting its decline to just 0.1%.
Though Germany’s Q1 GDP was confirmed at 0.4% – a vast improvement on the fourth quarter’s lack of growth – the DAX failed to get anything from this news. Instead it lost 0.3%, returning back under 11950 having struck 12000 during Tuesday’s rebound. The CAC looked even rougher, dropping half a percent to linger a smidge above 5300.
There was little in Kingfisher's (LON:KGF) first quarter update to provide a DIY fix for the losses seen this month. While it did post a 0.8% rise in like-for-likes, the knowledge that this was mainly down to a weather-boosted performance from B&Q tempered any excitement. This especially as Brico Depot added to the company’s French headache, the brand seeing a 5.1% drop in comparable sales, more than double the decline suffered by normal lowlight Castorama. A lack of change to its full year forecasts was welcome; the absence of a new CEO announcement was not, contributing to the stock’s 3% decline.
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