More stimulus measures, and promises of, have also been rapidly firing from China this week. On Monday, reports revealed that China has come up with ways to boost the domestic stock market and support the property sector.
Positive news emerged from China this week. The Chinese government extended tax cuts for foreign nationals, meaning they could enjoy taxable deductions on rent, language training, and children’s education, amongst other things, right through to 2027.
This week has generally been a quiet one for economic reports. On Monday, data came out that Britain’s labour market is losing its inflationary significance.
Giving the Bank of England something to think about this week, data came in on Tuesday (15 August 2023) revealing that the UK’s labour market is finally showing some signs of softening. Reports highlighted a fall of 66,000 job vacancies in the three months leading up to June
Rainy days in July kept UK shoppers indoors. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that sales rose by 1.5% compared with July last year, which is less than half the 12-month average growth rate.
There has been plenty of economic data releases already this week for markets to digest. In the Eurozone, despite remaining higher than the European Central Bank’s target of 2%, the headline figure for the region dropped to 5.3% in July from 5.5% in June.
PMI services and manufacturing data came in this week for the UK, Eurozone and US.
With regards to the UK, manufacturing PMI reflected a decrease in production from a downturn in orders both domestic and foreign.
The news at the start of the week spoke of the noise surrounding China’s latest GDP figure. Reports noted that GDP grew 0.8% in Q2, versus 2.2% in Q1.
Data this week showed signs of a loosening labour market in the UK. From March to May 2023, the UK witnessed a rise in its unemployment rate, reaching 4.0%.
Manufacturing PMI data released on Monday came in lacklustre for both the Eurozone and the UK. In relation to PMI, a figure above 50 indicates an expansion while anything below indicates a contraction.
