Asian Economic News

Chinese Industrial Production Heads down More Than Forecasted

Chinese industrial production saw a fall from 14.7% in July to 12.8% in August, despite forecasts for a slight fall to 14.5%.

Year-to-date on an annual basis, industrial production increased by 15.7% against July's 16.1% figure.

Chinese Retail Sales Tick down Less Than Expected

Chinese retail sales saw a slight fall from 23.3% to 23.2% in August, despite forecasts for a fall to 23.0%.

Year-to-date on an annual basis, retails sales increased by 21.9% against July's 21.7% figure.

US Economic News

U.S. PPI, Retail Sales, U of M Consumer Sentiment

The week ends with the release of U.S. PPI, advance retail sales and the preliminary print of the University of Michigan/Reuters consumer confidence index.

August's annualized core PPI is expected rise 3.7% following July's increase of 3.5%. Headline PPI is also expected to rise 10.2% following July's increase of 9.8%.

Core PPI should also see some moderation on a monthly basis as prices in general begin to fall from elevated levels although there will likely be some pass-through into core PPI as some producers were forced to raise their prices as their margins continued to be squeezed," the economists wrote in a note to clients.

Markets will also be focused on how retail sales are progressing, given the tight credit conditions in the U.S. U.S. retail sales excluding autos are expected to fall 0.2% following July's rise of 0.4%.

Some of the key factors weighing on core retail sales in August included a large rise in unemployment and the disappearance of tax rebate checks, whose disbursement had been completed by mid-July. Also scheduled for release on Friday, the University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index for September is expected to tick higher to a reading of 64.0 following July's 63.0 level.

U.S. business inventories are expected to rise 0.5% in July, below the prior month's 0.7% increase.

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