China’s September exports and imports tumble amid weak demand, yuan decline
China's exports and imports for September came in well below expectations, dented by weak demand at home and abroad. Exports in September tumbled 10.0 percent in dollar terms and imports fell 1.9 percent, with a trade surplus of $41.99 billion.
In U.S. dollar terms, exports were expected to fall 3.0 percent and imports to rise 1.0 percent on-year, according to a Reuters poll of analysts, which also forecast a trade surplus of $53 billion.
In yuan terms, exports fell 5.6 percent on-year and imports rose 2.2 percent. The September trade surplus came in at 278.35 billion yuan ($41.40 billion). The trade surplus in yuan terms can be different to the officially reported dollar-denominated figure.
"Domestic demand is equally weak as global demand," Yifan Hu, chief investment officer and chief China economist at UBS Wealth Management, told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Thursday.
She noted that the decline in imports came even as the price of one key import, oil, rose from around $30 a barrel in September 2015 to around $50 last month. Without that rise, imports would have been even weaker, she said. Additionally, she noted that in September, the yuan was around 5 percent weaker than a year earlier. "A small depreciation does not help China's exports, especially for this low-value-added exports," she noted.
BOJ likely to cut inflation forecasts, wary of easing: sources
The Bank of Japan is likely to slightly cut next fiscal year's inflation forecast in a quarterly review, sources familiar with its thinking say, but the central bank isn't expected to ease in the near term after having revamped its policy framework only last month.
Many central bank policymakers see little need to expand stimulus any time soon, including at the next two-day rate review concluding on Nov. 1, unless an abrupt yen spike threatens to derail a fragile recovery, the sources said.
Oil prices fall on Thursday
Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC said its production had risen to the highest level in at least eight years and following reports of an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 42 cents, or 0.84 percent, at $49.76 per barrel.
Reference: CNBC,Reuters
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