China import figures suggest drop in domestic demand

Chinese import and export figures came in lower than expected for July, suggesting a drop in domestic demand and global economic weakness.

Imports dropped 12.5 percent, their biggest decline since February, with exports also falling 4.4 percent according to China’s General Administration of Customs. China’s trade surplus stood at $52.31 billion in July, up from $48.11 billion in June.

These figures are the latest in several signs of weakness in the Chinese economy, with both exports and imports declining solidly over the past year. Analysts expect trade to remain weak, perhaps with a moderate increase towards the end of the year with Christmas manufacturing.

Japanese shares up on Monday after positive US jobs data

Japanese markets started the week on a high after the US announced a non-farm payroll figure of 255,000, far higher than expected by analysts.

Japanese exporters were helped by a weaker yen, and markets reacted well to the figure which heightened anticipation of a rate rise by the Federal Reserve before the year’s end.

The Nikkei 225 index closed 2.4 percent on Monday with other Asian markets having a similarly positive close: the Hang Seng closed up 1.57 percent, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.93 percent.

UK consumer spending rises in July

Consumer spending picked up in July, despite concerns of an economic slowdown in the wake of Brexit, according to the latest survey from card company Visa.

Consumer spending rose 1.6 percent in July compared with a year earlier, up 0.9 percent from June and hitting the strongest growth rate since January.

However, Visa warned that monthly consumer data can be volatile, with Visa’s managing Direction Kevin Jenkins commenting:

“July’s data suggests that UK consumer spending is holding up despite the ongoing uncertainty following the referendum, albeit at lower levels of growth than we’ve seen in the last couple of years.”

08/08/2016