China’s Positive Retail Sales and its Impact on Stocks

It was a good day for stocks in Asia. China’s August economic data helped to boost most stocks. For example, mainland Chinese stocks strengthened their positions on September 15. The Shanghai Composite added 0.51% to about 3’295.68. At the same time, the Shenzhen Component gained 0’933% to around 13’143.46. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.32% as of its final hour of trading. 

Moreover, South Korea’s Kospi index ended its trading day 0.65% higher at 2’443.58.

Interestingly, in Southeast Asia, the Straits Times index in Singapore added 0.64%.

Nevertheless, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slightly fell to 5’894.80. 

Also, Japanese stocks fell on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.44% to 23’454.89. In the meantime, the Topix index fell 0.62% to 1’640.84.

China’s retail sales and coronavirus pandemic

According to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, retail sales in China rose 0.5% in August compared to the same period of time last year. It is worth noting that, the first positive report for the year is good news. Notably, retail sales for the first eight months fell 8.6% from a year ago.

The industrial production in the country increased by 5.6% in August compared to the same period last year. However, fixed-asset investment fell 0.3% for the first eight months of the year. 

Hopefully, the world’s second-largest economy continues to recover and this process is expected to continue through the fourth quarter and into 2021.

China has the potential to get its economy back on track. It won’t be easy to accomplish this goal. Moreover, the country’s government should work with other countries to support the global economy. People should take into consideration that without cooperation it will be difficult to solve all the problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Also, trade tensions between the U.S. and China have the potential to affect the global economy in the long run. Thus, both sides should work together not to create additional issues for the global economy.