* Stocks tumble after retail giants warn of inflation pain. * Bonds rally on safety appeal, dollar backs away from highs. * China tech whacked by dismal Tencent (TCTZF) earnings. * Oil cooled by growth concerns, Venezuela hopes. * Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn. * Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh. By Marc Jones.
Copper prices rebounded on Thursday as the prospect of lockdowns being lifted in top metals consumer China buoyed sentiment despite worries about weaker global growth. Nickel jumped as much as 11%, largely due to short-covering amid thin volumes, traders said.
China is expected to cut benchmark lending rates at its monthly fixing on Friday, a second reduction this year, a Reuters survey showed, as it seeks to prop up credit demand to cushion an economic slowdown due to COVID-19 disruptions.
China is expected to cut benchmark lending rates at its monthly fixing on Friday, a second reduction this year, a Reuters survey showed, as it seeks to prop up credit demand to cushion an economic slowdown due to COVID-19 disruptions.
London copper prices inched higher on Thursday, buoyed by easing COVID-19 restrictions in top metals consumer China, although mounting worries over a global economic slowdown limited gains. Shanghai will start allowing more businesses in zero-COVID areas to resume normal operations from the start of June, deputy mayor Zhang Wei said as the city prepares for the end of lockdown.
Retail car sales in China jumped 27% in the first half of May from the same period a month earlier in early signs of recovery for the world's largest auto market, which has been battered by COVID-19 lockdowns, data showed. April was the worst month for China's auto market since early 2020 as the country shut factories to combat fresh cases, hurting logistics and sapping demand.
China still has policy room to cope with challenges, as the downward pressure on China's economy increases, state media quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying on Wednesday. China will ensure its economic operations in the first half and the whole year to be "within reasonable range", Li was quoted as saying.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday they were lowering their China 2022 GDP growth forecast to 4% from 4.5% as a result of COVID-related damage to the economy in the second quarter of this year. It was more likely China's economy would undershoot than overshoot their target, they added.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday they were lowering their China 2022 GDP forecast to 4% from 4.5% as a result of COVID-related damage to the economy in the second quarter of this year. It was more likely China's economy would undershoot than overshoot their target, they added.
* S. Africa April CPI steady; retail sales due 1100 GMT. * China stocks fall on concerns government stimulus inadequate. * Turkish lira down for 10th straight session. * Sri Lanka to be placed into default by rating agencies. By Anisha Sircar and Bansari Mayur Kamdar.
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