News out of China continues to fluctuate wildly. Reports out Monday showed that the GDP of world's second-biggest economy cooled less than expected. Other monthly indicators released in tandem with the GDP data hinted at enduring weakness in the economy.
Official data showed that China's economy expanded 6.9 percent on-year in the third quarter compared with analysts’ prediction of 6.8 percent. Industrial production was up 5.7 percent on-year in September, missing expectations of an increase of 6.0 percent and coming in below August's 6.1 percent gain.
Fixed-asset investments, a crucial driver of China's economy, came in at 10.3 percent in the first nine months of 2015, also below estimates for 10.8 percent growth. Retail sales, however, were up with annual growth of 10.9 percent in September, slightly above analysts’ prediction of 10.8 percent.
China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Monday that growth was up 1.8 percent in Q3, compared to forecasts of 1.7 percent.
Growth Set at Around 7%
The government has set its annual economic growth target at "around 7 percent" for 2015, but at the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang admitted over the weekend that the global economic recovery was losing steam and that hitting such a target was "not easy."
Asian markets were mixed on the GDP report. Asian shares outside Japan turned positive with the Shanghai Composite rebounding 0.5 percent and the CSI300 Index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen advancing 0.7 percent. The smaller Shenzhen Composite moved up 0.4 percent.
According to IG's market analyst, Augus Nicholson, “It's hard to be overly optimistic about the headline number, especially given the range of other data released today. Nonetheless, markets have clearly been buoyed by the better than expected headline number, and it shows that China's economy has not deteriorated as much as some had thought."