Chinese consumers remain reluctant to spend after virus

Monthly set of indicators from China was released today. The data casts shadow on any expectations of V-shaped recovery in major economies. Industrial production increased 3.9% YoY in April but retail sales saw a drop of 7.5% YoY. This shows that putting people back to work only required lifting restrictions but getting people back to shops is a different story. Clothing, jewellery, restaurant and mobile phone spending dropped significantly. Data from China may serve as a guide on what to expect once major economies like Germany, Japan or the United States fully reopen. Fixed investments remain depressed and declined 10.3% from a year ago. However, the reading was largely ignored by the markets. Even copper - barometer for global growth - is trading higher today.

Data from China, especially retail sales data, casts shadow on expectations of V-shaped recovery in major economies. While industrial production growth (yellow) jumped into positive territory, retail sales growth (white) continues to be negative. Source: Bloomberg

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